2022 Sydney Theatre Awards Nominees Announced

SoH-Amadeus-Rahel-Romahn-Lily-Balatincz-photo-by-Daniel-BoudNominations have been announced for the 2022 Sydney Theatre Awards, which will be presented at an industry gala ceremony on Monday 23 January 2023 at the York Theatre – Seymour Centre.

Nominations in the 28 categories were spread across 55 different productions, which played on Sydney stages during 2022.

Leading the list with six nominations were Amadeus (produced by Red Line Productions and Sydney Opera House), Nice Work If You Can Get It (Michelle Guthrie in association with Hayes Theatre Co), Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Sydney Theatre Company) and The Tempest (Sydney Theatre Company).

Receiving five nominations were Albion (Secret House, New Ghosts Theatre Company and Seymour Centre), Cleansed (Red Line Productions), The Jungle and the Sea (Belvoir) and A Raisin in the Sun (Sydney Theatre Company).

The nominees for Best Mainstage Production are Amadeus (Red Line Productions and Sydney Opera House), The Jungle and the Sea (Belvoir), A Raisin in the Sun (Sydney Theatre Company), Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Sydney Theatre Company) and Whitefella Yella Tree (Griffin Theatre Company).

The nominees for Best Independent Production are Albion (Secret House, New Ghosts Theatre Company and Seymour Centre), Gods and Little Fishes (New Theatre), Cleansed (Red Line Productions) and The Seven Deadly Sins & Mahagonny Songspiel (Red Line Productions).

The Sydney Theatre Awards have been presented annually since 2005 by a group of Sydney’s leading theatre critics to celebrate the strength and diversity of Sydney’s theatre artists and productions.

Judging panels have been bolstered over the past three years to include prominent industry specialists who see all eligible productions in their area and vote on the nominations.

“While COVID continued to hang around, Australian theatre companies and producers looked it in the eye, took extra precautions (and understudies) on board and produced some wonderful shows in 2022,” said Jo Litson, Editor of Limelight.

“There were headaches and cancellations along the way, but the quality of the work spoke for itself, with 55 productions recognised here and many more vying for nomination on the longlist.”

“What’s more, the dynamic casting on Sydney’s stages – reflected in this year’s nominations – shows that diversity is being embraced like never before.”

The Sydney Theatre Awards gratefully thanks major sponsor, the Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation, without which the Awards would not be possible.

The Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation is a charity founded to assist the performing arts and, following the wishes of founding President Dr Rodney Seaborn AO OBE, proudly supports a wide variety of performing arts initiatives through funding, attending performances and preserving precious theatrical records for education and research as well as providing accessible and affordable space for rehearsals and small performances.

The other sponsors of the Sydney Theatre Awards are The William Fletcher Foundation, Showcast, Currency Press, Ticketmaster, Actors Benevolent Fund, ACMN, JPJ Audio and Helen Constance.

For more information about the Sydney Theatre Awards, visit: www.sydneytheatreawards.com for details.

Image: Rahel Romahn and Lily Balatincz wearing costumes designed by Romance Was Born and Anna Cordingley for Amadeus – photo by Daniel Boud


2022 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS NOMINATIONS

BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Amadeus (Red Line Productions and Sydney Opera House)
The Jungle and the Sea (Belvoir)
A Raisin in the Sun (Sydney Theatre Company)
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Sydney Theatre Company)
Whitefella Yella Tree (Griffin Theatre Company)

BEST DIRECTION OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Wesley Enoch (A Raisin in the Sun)
Craig Ilott (Amadeus)
S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack (The Jungle and the Sea)
Iain Sinclair (The Caretaker)
Kip Williams (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)

BEST PERFORMER IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Darren Gilshenan (The Caretaker)
Heather Mitchell (RBG: Of Many, One)
Zahra Newman (A Raisin in the Sun)
Guy Simon (Whitefella Yella Tree)
Charles Wu (Golden Blood)

BEST PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Peter Carroll (The Tempest)
Anthony Gooley (The Caretaker)
Angela Mahlatjie (A Raisin in the Sun)
Ian Michael (City of Gold)
Claude Scott-Mitchell (The Tempest)

BEST STAGE DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Jacob Nash (The Tempest)
Mel Page (A Raisin in the Sun)
Michael Scott-Mitchell (Amadeus)
Emma Vine (Photograph 51)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Elizabeth Gadsby (The Tempest)
Marg Horwell (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)
Renée Mulder (Triple X)
Romance Was Born and Anna Cordingley (Amadeus)

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Alexander Berlage (RBG: Of Many, One)
Kelsey Lee and Katie Sfetkidis (Whitefella Yella Tree)
Nick Schlieper (Amadeus)
Nick Schlieper (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Tony David Cray (Amadeus)
Danni A. Espositol (Overflow)
Stefan Gregory (The Tempest)
Michael Toisuta (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Stefan Gregory (The Tempest)
Arjunan Puveendran (The Jungle and the Sea)
Clemence Williams (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)
Clemence Williams (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall)

BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Albion (Secret House, New Ghosts Theatre Company and Seymour Centre)
Gods and Little Fishes (New Theatre)
Cleansed (Red Line Productions)
The Seven Deadly Sins & Mahagonny Songspiel (Red Line Productions)

BEST DIRECTION OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Lucy Clements (Albion)
Dino Dimitriadis (Cleansed)
Kenneth Moraleda (One Hour No Oil)
Riley Spadaro (The Italians)

BEST PERFORMER IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Nisrine Amine (Relativity)
Jessica Bell (The Wasp)
Jane Phegan (The End of Winter)
Masego Pitso (Chewing Gum Dreams)
Randa Sayed (Abu Salim)

BEST PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Jane Angharad (Albion)
Violette Ayad (Son of Byblos)
Merridy Eastman (Hand to God)
Simon Elrahi (Son of Byblos)
Marcus Rivera (Ate Lovia)

BEST STAGE DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Jeremy Allen and Emma White (Hand to God)
Charles Davis (The Seven Deadly Sins & Mahagonny Songspiel)
Grace Deacon (Destroy, She Said)
Monique Langford (Albion)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Lily Hayman (Fledgling)
Katie Fitchett (Gods and Little Fishes)
Georgia Harper (Mother May We)
Esther Zhong (Moon Rabbit Rising)

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Benjamin Brockman and Morgan Moroney (Cleansed)
Frankie Clarke (Mother May We)
Tyler Fitzpatrick (Moon Rabbit Rising)
Trent Suidgeest (The Seven Deadly Sins & Mahagonny Songspiel)

BEST SOUND DESIGN AND COMPOSITION OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Chrysoulla Markoulli and Zac Saric (Tell Me Before the Sun Explodes)
Christine Pan (Moon Rabbit Rising)
Benjamin Pierpoint (Cleansed)
Steven Khoury (Mother May We)

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
At What Cost? (Nathan Maynard)
Golden Blood (Merlynn Tong)
The Jungle and the Sea (S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack)
Triple X (Glace Chase)
Whitefella Yella Tree (Dylan Van Den Berg)

BEST NEWCOMER
Akkshey Caplash (Guards at the Taj)
Charlotte MacInnes (The Deb)
Adorah Oloapu (Nice Work If You Can Get It)
Masego Pitso (Chewing Gum Dreams)
Andrew Waldin (Nice Work If You Can Get It)

BEST ENSEMBLE
Albion (Secret House, New Ghosts Theatre Company and Seymour Centre)
Cleansed (Red Line Productions)
The Jungle and the Sea (Belvoir)
Moon Rabbit Rising (Little Eggs Collective and Belvoir’s 25A)

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
An American in Paris (GWB Entertainment and The Australian Ballet)
The Lovers (Bell Shakespeare)
Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Global Creatures)
Nice Work If You Can Get It (Michelle Guthrie in association with Hayes Theatre Co)

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Sheridan Harbridge (Dubbo Championship Wrestling)
Maeve Marsden (Lizzie)
Cameron Mitchell (Nice Work If You Can Get It)
Simon Phillips (The Phantom of the Opera)

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Jack Chambers (Mary Poppins)
Casey Donovan (9 to 5)
Stefanie Jones (Mary Poppins)
Lisa McCune (Girl From The North Country)
Joshua Robson (The Phantom of the Opera)

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Natalie Abbot (The Lovers)
Simon Burke (Moulin Rouge! The Musical)
Lucy Maunder (Mary Poppins)
Caroline O’Connor (9 to 5)
Sam Ward (An American in Paris)

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION
Chris King, Steven Kramer and Nigel Ubrihien (Jekyll and Hyde)
Andrew Ross (Girl from the North Country)
Vanessa Scammell (An American in Paris)
Damon Wade (Nice Work If You Can Get It)

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY IN A MUSICAL
Amy Campbell (A Chorus Line)
Sally Dashwood (The Deb)
Cameron Mitchell (Nice Work If You Can Get It)
Ellen Simpson (Dubbo Championship Wrestling)

BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN
ARC (Erth and Sydney Opera House)
Creation Creation (Windmill Theatre Company and Sydney Opera House)
Yong (Monkey Baa Theatre)
ZOOOM (Patch Theatre and Sydney Opera House)

BEST PRODUCTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
The Deb (ATYP)
M.Rock (ATYP)
The Monologue Collective (bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company at KXT)
A Practical Guide to Self Defence (National Theatre of Parramatta)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
To be announced