Above: The Picture of Dorian Gray with Eryn Jean Norvill at Sydney Theatre Company took out major awards across categories.
NIDA congratulates our alumni who took out awards in the Sydney Theatre Awards on 31 January at the Seymour Centre.
Presented annually since 2005, the Sydney Theatre Awards are run by a group of Sydney’s leading theatre critics, including Limelight Editor Jo Litson, Jason Blake (Audrey Journal), Harriet Cunningham (Sydney Morning Herald), Deborah Jones (The Australian), Jade Kops (Broadway World), John McCallum (The Australian), John Shand (Sydney Morning Herald), Cassie Tongue (The Guardian/Sydney Morning Herald) and Suzy Wrong (Suzy Goes See).
This year, separate male and female performance categories have been replaced by gender-neutral awards, and for the first time new judging panels including industry specialists have been introduced for the Independent Theatre categories and the awards for Children and Young People’s Theatre.
WINNER BEST DIRECTION OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Kip Williams (Directing, 2009; MFA, 2010) (The Picture of Dorian Gray) also nominated for Best Mainstage Production
WINNER BEST STAGE DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Marg Horwell and David Bergman (Production, 2008)(The Picture of Dorian Gray)
WINNER BEST STAGE DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Charles Davis (Design, 2014)(Happy Days)
WINNER BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Genevieve Blanchett (Design, 1993)(Home, I’m Darling)
WINNER BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Esther Zhong (current NIDA BFA (Costume) third-year student) (Three Fat Virgins Unassembled)
WINNER BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Benjamin Brockman (Production 2011)(Symphonie Fantastique)
WINNER BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
David Bergman (Production, 2008)(Green Park)
WINNER BEST CABARET PRODUCTION
Is This All Then? (Philip Quast, Acting 1979)
And a shout out to the cast, crew and creatives behind Symphonie Fantastique (Little Eggs Collective), which won Best Independent Production and Best Ensemble. The show features NIDA alumni Clare Hennessy (Writing for Performance, 2016), Annie Stafford (Acting 2016) and Chemon Theys (Musical Theatre, 2017), with set and lighting design by Benjamin Brockman (Production, 2011) and current third-year acting student Grace Stamnas as movement coach.
Gale Edwards (Directing, 1981) and Tony Sheldon were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards.
