Launceston theatre companies Three Rivers and Encore were among the big winners at the 2019 Tasmania Theatre Awards.
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A celebration dinner was held at Wrest Point Casino on Saturday evening, with awards presented across three major categories including professional theatre, community theatre and community musical theatre.
In the community theatre category, Three Rivers had an almost clean sweep winning eight out of 10 awards, including four each for the productions of Our Town and Killer Joe, which also won best production.
In the community musical theatre category, Encore’s production of Les Miserables took out the highest number of awards across the evening, with a total of five, including best production and best direction by Belinda King.
Encore’s Sound of Music also received two awards, along with Bijou Creative’s production of Sweeney Todd, and The Show Company’s production of Mary Poppins.
The judges special award for this category went to Martine Holliday for her ‘show stopping performance’ in The Theory of Relativity, presented by Musical Theatre Crew.
Topping the professional theatre category was Hamlet by Blue Cow Theatre, which received four awards including best production and best direction by Robert Jarman.
The judges’ special award for this category went to The Tasmanian Theatre Company and Blue Cow for producing theatre supporting local issues.
"This special award highlights how intrinsic theatre can be in telling local stories in a way that other mediums like TV and cinema can’t," TCT’s president Peter Sexton said.
"There’s a unique, almost personal relationship between live performers and their audience, which can really help them to engage and empathise with the story."
In a new initiative for this year, the best new writing award, assessed by a national panel of judges appointed through a partnership with Australian Plays, went to Campion Decent for The Campaign.
Marcus Bower also received a lifetime achievement award in recognition of his contribution to the theatre community.
With nearly 50 years active involvement, Bower has contributed as an actor, director, drama teacher theatre reviewer, write, committee ember and mentor.
2019 Tasmania Theatre Award winners
PROFESSIONAL THEATRE
- BEST PRODUCTION: HAMLET (Blue Cow Theatre)
- BEST PERFORMANCE (FEMALE): JANE HAMILTON FOSTER for Eight Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography (Tasmanian Theatre Company)
- BEST PERFORMANCE (MALE): GUY HOOPER for Twelve Times He Spoke (Blue Cow Theatre)
- BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE (FEMALE): ANNA KIDD for Hamlet (Blue Cow Theatre)
- BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE (MALE): ANDREW CASEY for Hamlet (Blue Cow Theatre)
- BEST DIRECTION: ROBERT JARMAN for Hamlet (Blue Cow Theatre)
- BEST ENSEMBLE: Cast of UPRISING (Tasmanian Theatre Company and Upstart Theatre)
- BEST DESIGN – SET OR COSTUME: DAVID MORTON: Set Design for The Riddle of Washpool Gully (Terrapin Puppet Theatre)
- BEST DESIGN – LIGHTING OR VIDEO/FILM: MAX FORD: Lighting Design for Uprising (Tasmanian Theatre Company and Upstart Theatre)
- BEST DESIGN – SOUND: HEATH BROWN for The Riddle of Washpool Gully (Terrapin Puppet Theatre)
- PROFESSIONAL THEATRE JUDGES’ AWARD: TASMANIAN THEATRE COMPANY and BLUE COW THEATRE for supporting local issues through theatre
COMMUNITY THEATRE
- BEST PRODUCTION: KILLER JOE (Three River Theatre)
- BEST PERFORMANCE (FEMALE): KERRI GAY for Our Town (Three River Theatre)
- BEST PERFORMANCE (MALE): JIMMY HARRISON for Killer Joe (Three River Theatre)
- BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE (FEMALE): STEPH FRANCIS for Killer Joe (Three River Theatre)
- BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE (MALE): TRAVIS HENNESSY for Killer Joe (Three River Theatre)
- BEST DIRECTION: LEIGH OSWIN for Our Town (Three River Theatre)
- BEST ENSEMBLE: Cast of OUR TOWN (Three River Theatre)
- BEST DESIGN – SET OR COSTUME: TERRY RYAN: Set Design for Our Town (Three River Theatre)
- BEST DESIGN – LIGHTING OR VIDEO/FILM: CHRIS BRADSHAW: Video/Film Design for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Ulverstone Repertory Theatre Society)
- BEST DESIGN – SOUND: MATT SKALICKY for Eurydice (PLoT Theatre Society)
- COMMUNITY THEATRE JUDGES’ AWARD: SAXON HORNETT emerging talent in music composition
- COMMUNITY MUSICAL THEATRE: BEST PRODUCTION: LES MISÉRABLES (Encore Theatre Company):
- BEST PERFORMANCE (FEMALE): NICOLE SIMMS-FARROW for Sweeney Todd (Bijou Creative)
- BEST PERFORMANCE (MALE): CAMPBELL BRAITHWAITE for Mary Poppins (The Show Company Tasmania)
- BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE (FEMALE): SAMANTHA HAMMERSLEY for Les Misérables (Encore Theatre Company)
- BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE (MALE): ROSS MARSDEN for Les Misérables (Encore Theatre Company)
- BEST DIRECTION: BELINDA J KING for Les Misérables (Encore Theatre Company)
- BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION: DENISE SAM and MICHAEL STOCKS for The Sound of Music (Encore Theatre Company)
- BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: JACQUELYNE FRANCE-MARSDEN for Les Misérables (Encore Theatre Company)
- BEST ENSEMBLE: Cast of [title of show] (Old Nick Company)
- BEST DESIGN – SET OR COSTUME: WILLIAM DOWD: Set Design for Sweeney Todd (Bijou Creative)
- BEST DESIGN – LIGHTING OR VIDEO/FILM: GARETH KAYS: Lighting Design for Mary Poppins (The Show Company Tasmania)
- BEST DESIGN – SOUND: MARCELLO LO RICCO for The Sound of Music (Encore Theatre Company)
- COMMUNITY MUSICALTHEATRE JUDGES’ AWARD: MARTINE HOLLIDAY for her show-stopping performance in The Theory of Relativity
OTHER AWARDS
- BEST NEW WRITING: CAMPION DECENT for The Campaign (Tasmanian Theatre Company and Blue Cow Theatre in association with If Theatre and Salamanca Arts Centre)
- LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: MARCUS BOWER
Jessica Willard
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
Being a health reporter to me is about more than just reporting the problems. It's about asking why they are happening in the first place and what needs to change to fix it.
