Above: American Psycho. (Photo Clare Hawley)
NIDA congratulates our outstanding alumni taking out several awards at the Sydney Theatre Awards this year.
The musical American Psycho led the field with nine awards, with Sydney Theatre Company’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane also highly honoured.
The Sydney Theatre Awards are presented annually by a group of leading theatre critics to celebrate the strength, quality and diversity of theatre in Sydney. The panel consists of Elissa Blake (Audrey Journal), Jason Blake (Audrey Journal), Deborah Jones (The Australian), Jade Kops(BroadwayWorld), Jo Litson (Limelight), John McCallum (The Australian), Ben Neutze (Time Out), John Shand (The Sydney Morning Herald), Diana Simmonds (Stagenoise), Cassie Tongue (Time Out) and Suzy Wrong (Suzy Goes See).
The awards honour excellence across theatre in Sydney during 2019. Nominations in the 34 categories were spread across 46 productions which played on Sydney stages during 2019. The awards were presented at a gala ceremony on 20 January at the Seymour Centre.
In the Mainstage Production categories, Paige Rattray (Directing, 2009) was awarded Best Direction of a Mainstage Production for The Beauty Queen of Leenane at Sydney Theatre Company, while Renée Mulder (Design, 2008) won Best Stage Design of a Mainstage Production for the her work on the show. The show also won the mainstage category awards for Best Supporting Male Actor for Hamish Michael and Best Lighting Design for Paul Jackson.
In the Independent Musical categories, Alexander Berlage (Technical Production 2013, Directing 2017) won Best Direction and Best Lighting Design for his production of American Psycho which also won Best Production of an Independent Musical for BB Arts Entertainment and Two Doors Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co. The show was produced by Bradley Barrack (Technical Production 2013).
America Psycho also won Best Lead Male Actor in a Musical for Ben Gerrard (Acting, 2007), Best Costume Design for Mason Browne (Design 2003, Currently studying Cultural Leadership MFA) and Best Sound Design for Nicholas Walker and Best Musical Direction for Andrew Worboys and Best Choreography in a Musical for Yvette Lee.
In the Best Design categories, Isabel Hudson (Design, 2015) won Best Stage Design of an Independent Production for her work on American Pscyho.
In the Best Actor categories, Meyne Wyatt (Acting, 2010) and Shari Sebbens (Acting, 2009) won, respectively, Best Lead Male Actor and Best Supporting Female Actor for their work on City of Gold, which Meyne wrote.
Chika Ikogwe (Acting, 2018) was awarded Best Newcomer for her work on The Wolves and Fangirls, the latter of which also won Best Mainstage Production of a Musical.
Sheridan Harbridge (Acting, 2006) won Best Lead Female Actor in a Mainstage Production for the one-woman show Prima Facie.
Joseph Althouse (Acting, 2018) won Best Supporting Male Actor in an Independent Production for his performance in Angels in America.
Thomas Campbell (Acting, 2002) won Best Supporting Male Actor in a Musical for his performance in HMS Pinafore.
Vaishnavi Suryaprakash (Acting, 2017) was not acknowledged individually, but two of her shows – Counting and Cracking and White Pearl – won Best Mainstage Production and Best Ensemble, respectively.
