Sydney Theatre Awards, judged by local critics, have announced their nominations for the best theatre of 2016 – and boy are you kicking yourself if you didn’t see the following shows (click through to read our reviews and weep):
Little Shop of Horrors– 10 nominations
Luckiest Productions & Tinderbox Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co
Spring Awakening– 10 nominations
Australian Theatre for Young People
Antigone – 9 nominations
Sport for Jove
The Whale – 8 nominations
Red Line Productions
The Drover’s Wife– 7 nominations
Belvoir
Inner Voices– 7 nominations
Red Line Productions & Don’t Look Away
All My Sons– 6 nominations
Sydney Theatre Company
Faith Healer – 5 nominations
Belvoir
The nominees for Best Mainstage Production in 2016 are All My Sons, The Drover’s Wife, Faith Healer and The Hanging (Sydney Theatre Company). Three of those were directed by women; two of them were also written by women and are new Australian works (f*ck yeah).
The nominees for Best Independent Production are Antigone, The Block Universe (Old 505 Theatre), Hurt (Old 505 Theatre), Inner Voices, and The Whale.
Best New Australian work is up for grabs between Gloria (Wr Benedict Andrews, for Griffin Theatre Company), The Hanging (Wr Angela Betzien, for Sydney Theatre Company), Jasper Jones (Wr Kate Mulvany adapted from the novel by Craig Silvey, for Belvoir), Lake Disappointment (Wrs Lachlan Philpott and Luke Mullins, for Carriageworks) and The Drover’s Wife (Wr Leah Purcell, for Belvoir).
Who votes for the awards? Time Out’s National Arts & Culture editor Dee Jefferson is in the voting committee, as are regular Time Out Sydney reviewers Cassie Tongue (also editor at Aussie Theatre) and Polly Simons (who also writes for Daily Telegraph). The other committee members are Elissa Blake (Fairfax), Jason Blake (Sydney Morning Herald), Deborah Jones (The Australian), Jo Litson (The Sunday Telegraph/ Limelight), John McCallum (The Australian), Ben Neutze (Daily Review), and Diana Simmonds (Stagenoise website).
The Sydney Theatre Awards are held on January 23 at Seymour Centre. Below is the full list of nominations; and check out our hitlist of the best theatre in January.
NOMINATIONS FOR 2016 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS
MAINSTAGE
BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
All My Sons (Sydney Theatre Company)
The Drover’s Wife (Belvoir)
Faith Healer (Belvoir)
The Hanging (Sydney Theatre Company)
BEST DIRECTION
Leticia Caceres (The Drover’s Wife)
Lee Lewis (Gloria)
Janice Muller (Lake Disappointment)
Kip Williams (All My Sons)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Ana Maria Belo (Tribes)
Marta Dusseldorp (Gloria)
Robyn Nevin (All My Sons)
Leah Purcell (The Drover’s Wife)
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Colin Friels (Faith Healer)
John Howard (All My Sons)
Luke Mullins (Lake Disappointment)
David Woods (A Flea In Her Ear)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Tracy Mann (Relatively Speaking)
Eryn Jean Norvill (All My Sons)
Sarah Peirse (The Golden Age)
Alison Whyte (Faith Healer)
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Benedict Hardie (The Drover’s Wife)
Pip Miller (Faith Healer)
Jamie Oxenbould (The Literati)
Chris Ryan (All My Sons)
BEST STAGE DESIGN
Alicia Clements (Hay Fever)
Owen Phillips (Little Shop of Horrors)
Brian Thomson (Faith Healer)
Gabriela Tylesova (A Flea In Her Ear)
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Tim Chappel (Little Shop of Horrors)
Alicia Clements (Hay Fever)
Tess Schofield (The Drover’s Wife)
Gabriela Tylesova (A Flea In Her Ear)
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Damien Cooper (The Golden Age)
Matt Cox (Lake Disappointment)
Ross Graham (Little Shop of Horrors)
Nicholas Rayment (The Hanging)
Nick Schlieper (A Flea In Her Ear)
BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN
James Brown (Broken)
James Brown (Lake Disappointment)
Nate Edmondson (Savages)
The Sweats (The Drover’s Wife)
INDEPENDENT
BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Antigone (Sport for Jove)
The Block Universe (Cross Pollinate Productions and Old 505 Theatre)
Hurt (White Box Theatre and The Old 505)
Inner Voices (Don’t Look Away in association with Red Line Productions)
The Whale (Red Line Productions)
BEST DIRECTION
Shane Anthony (The Whale)
Kate Gaul (Good With Maps)
Philip Rouse (Inner Voices)
Damien Ryan and Terry Karabelas (Antigone)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Andrea Demetriades (Antigone)
Paige Gardiner (Three Sisters)
Danielle King (4 Minutes 12 Secs)
Meredith Penman (Hurt)
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Keith Agius (The Whale)
Damien Strouthos (Inner Voices)
Jacob Warner (The Block Universe)
William Zappa (Antigone)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Deborah Galanos (Antigone)
Meredith Penman (The Whale)
Ella Prince (The Shadow Box)
Matilda Ridgway (The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant)
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alex Beauman (The Whale)
Thomas Campbell (Three Sisters)
Anthony Gooley (Inner Voices)
Sam O’Sullivan (Journey’s End)
BEST STAGE DESIGN
Charlie Davis (The Whale)
Anna Gardiner (Inner Voices)
Georgia Hopkins (Three Sisters)
Melanie Liertz (Antigone)
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Martelle Hunt (Inner Voices)
Melanie Liertz (Antigone)
Emma Vine (Three Sisters)
Angela White (Side Show)
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Alexander Berlage (The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant)
Alexander Berlage (The Whale)
Matt Cox (Antigone)
Sian James-Holland (Inner Voices)
BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN
Nate Edmonson (Good With Maps)
Bryce Halliday with Thomas Royce-Hampton (Antigone)
Basil Hogios/Katelyn Shaw (The Whale)
Hamish Michael and Hue Blanes (80 Minutes No Interval)
OTHER CATEGORIES
BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
Benedict Andrews (Gloria)
Angela Betzien (The Hanging)
Kate Mulvany (Jasper Jones)
Lachlan Philpott and Luke Mullins (Lake Disappointment)
Leah Purcell (The Drover’s Wife)
BEST NEWCOMER
Jonny Hawkins (Relatively Speaking)
James Raggatt (Spring Awakening)
Jessica Rookeward (Spring Awakening)
Mia Rorris (The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant)
Elijah Williams (Black Jesus)
BEST ENSEMBLE
Broken (Darlinghurst Theatre Company)
Savages (Darlinghurst Theatre Company)
Slut (Edgeware Forum and Rue de la Rocket)
Swallow (National Theatre of Parramatta)
BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Fiddler on the Roof (The Works Entertainment)
Little Shop of Horrors (Luckiest Productions and Tinderbox Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co)
My Fair Lady (Opera Australia and John Frost)
Spring Awakening (atyp)
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Hayes Theatre Co)
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Dean Bryant (Little Shop of Horrors)
Mitchell Butel (Spring Awakening)
Roger Hodgman (Fiddler on the Roof)
Shaun Rennie (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown)
JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Laura Bunting (Side Show)
Kerrie Anne Greenland (Side Show)
Esther Hannaford (Little Shop of Horrors)
Anna O’Byrne (My Fair Lady)
Jessica Rookeward (Spring Awakening)
JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
David Campbell (Dream Lover)
Brent Hill (Little Shop of Horrors)
James Raggatt (Spring Awakening)
Anthony Warlow (Fiddler on the Roof)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Kate Cheel (Spring Awakening)
Hannah Fredericksen (Dream Lover)
Sheridan Harbridge (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown)
Laura Murphy (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Blake Bowden (Fiddler on the Roof)
Scott Johnson (Little Shop of Horrors)
Reg Livermore (My Fair Lady)
Mark Mitchell (Fiddler on the Roof)
BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION
Lucy Bermingham (Spring Awakening)
Daniel Edmonds (Dream Lover)
Michael Tyack (The Detective's Handbook)
Andrew Worboys (Little Shop of Horrors)
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY IN A MUSICAL
Amy Campbell (Spring Awakening)
Andrew Hallsworth (Dream Lover)
Andrew Hallsworth (Little Shop of Horrors)
Cameron Mitchell (Mack and Mabel)
BEST CABARET PRODUCTION
Cathartic (Cath Alcorn)
Liza’s Back (is broken) (Trevor Ashley)
Working Class Boy: An Evening of Stories and Songs (Jimmy Barnes)
To the Moon and Back (Gillian Cosgriff)
BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN
Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark (Sydney Theatre Company and The Listies)
Mr Stink (CDP)
The Peasant Prince (Monkey Baa)
BEST PRODUCTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
The Big Dry (atyp and Ensemble Theatre)
Girl Asleep (Belvoir)
Jasper Jones (Belvoir)
Spring Awakening (atyp)