2011 Sydney Theatre Awards Winners Announced

At a ceremony last night, the winners of the 2011 Sydney Theatre Awards were announced. Over 300 members of the Sydney theatre community packed the auditorium at Paddington RSL to celebrate the best of Sydney theatre throughout 2011.

Best Mainstage Production was awarded to Belvoir’s production of The Wild Duck, which also won Best Direction of a Mainstage Production (Simon Stone) and Best Actress and Actor in a Supporting Role of a Mainstage Production (Anita Hegh, Anthony Phelan). Best Independent Production went to The Libertine, produced by Sport for Jove Theatre with Darlinghurst Theatre Company, which also garnered Best Actress and Actor in an Independent Production (Danielle King, Anthony Gooley).

Best Actress in a Leading Role of a Mainstage Production was won by Cate Blanchett for Sydney Theatre Company’s Gross und Klein, for which Alice Babidge was awarded Best Costume Design. Colin Moody won Best Actor in a Leading Role of a Mainstage Production for his role in Bell Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, while Best Direction of an Independent Production went to Sarah Giles for Griffin Independent’s The Ugly One. Nick Schlieper took home both Best Stage Design and Best Lighting Design for his work on STC’s Baal, while Alan John and Steve Francis won Best Score or Sound Design for STC’s The White Guard.

Best New Australian Work went to Angela Betzien for The Dark Room (Belvoir), and Best Newcomer was Meyne Wyatt for his performances in Griffin’s The Brothers Size and Silent Disco. Best Production for Children was Snow On Mars (Theatre of Image in association with Sydney Festival).

Hairspray was awarded Best Production of a Musical, while the show’s lead actress Jaz Flowers won the Judith Johnson Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical. The Judith Johnson Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical went to Paul Capsis for STC’s The Threepenny Opera. Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical was awarded to Martin Crewes for Doctor Zhivago.

The 2011 Sydney Theatre Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented to David Williamson, in recognition of his extraordinary career as Australia’s leading playwright.

The Awards ceremony opened with a look back at Sydney theatre in 2011, written and performed by Trevor Ashley and Marney McQueen. Other performances were given by the workshop cast of Tim Freedman’s new musical Truth, Beauty and a Picture of You (Ian Stenlake, Frank Hansen, Sam Devenport and Erica Lovell) and Debra Byrne, who performed “I Dreamed A Dream” to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of Les Miserables at Sydney’s Theatre Royal. Presenters at the ceremony included Robert Alexander, Fayssal Bazzi, Helen Dallimore, Michael Falzon, Belinda Giblin, Verity Hampson, Amanda Harrison, Jacob Nash, Miranda Otto, Richard Roxburgh and David Williamson.

The Sydney Theatre Awards are run by a group of theatre critics to celebrate the strength, quality and diversity of theatre in Sydney. The Sydney Theatre Reviewers are Elissa Blake (Sun Herald), Jason Blake (Sydney Morning Herald), Chris Hook (Daily Telegraph), Deborah Jones (The Australian), Darryn King (Time Out Sydney), Jo Litson (The Sunday Telegraph), John McCallum (The Australian) and Diana Simmonds (Stagenoise website).