Finalists have been announced for the 2018 Dunedin Theatre Awards. The annual Awards celebration, in its 9th year, is to be held at Hanover Hall on Monday 10th December. This beautiful ex-church building is well-known to Dunedin as previously being several nightclubs. Over the past couple of years it has been transformed into the home of the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, and was acknowledged as a fine new addition to the performance spaces of Dunedin at last year’s Awards.

This year, the Dunedin Reviewers’ Collective has considered a wide range of theatrical endeavours for recognition. Of course, the occasion cannot pass without a nod to the loss of our beloved Fortune Theatre. This year’s finalists include several Fortune Theatre shows, and of course, the people who worked on them. However, the depth of variety of the finalists shows that theatre in Dunedin is not just surviving, it is continually developing and meeting dramatic challenges.

The Collective will celebrate this resilience with Dunedin’s theatre practitioners and supporters in the best way it knows how; publicly saying ‘thank you’ and ‘well done’! In addition to the published categories, the ceremony will also present some special Awards recognising the unique and extraordinary in our theatre community. The Awards are run with the support of Otago Community Trust, DCC, and private donors. As ever, this popular event may very well sell out; if available, doorsales will be advertised on the day.

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN                  

Anna Sinton                  The Lieutenant of Inishmore       
Garry Kierle                   Eloise in the Middle       
Martyn Roberts             Dark Matter      
Stephen Kilroy              An Iliad

OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN                      

Jennifer Cattermole, Richard Huber,
Jessica Little, Craig Storey        Blood of the Lamb         
Jeremy Mayall               Dark Matter      
Matthew Morgan            Eloise in the Middle       
Shayne Carter               An Iliad

OUTSTANDING SCENO DESIGN (SET/COSTUME/AV) 

Ashley de Gouw, Brittany Silifant, Abby Forrester, mentored by
Martyn Roberts and Cindy Diver          Homecoming     Sceno/AV Design
Eric Neumann    Hamlet  Set Design
Ioan Bramhall    Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense  Set Design
Otago Polytechnic 3rd year Communication Design students
in collaboration with Jordan Dickson Eloise in the Middle        Sceno/AV Design
Rochelle Brophy Elemental                    Costumes
Shannon van Rooijen The Lieutenant of Inishmore        Set Design
Sofie Welvaert  Wyrd Sisters                 Costumes

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE (min 2 Awarded)       

Anya Tate-Manning My Best Dead Friend     'Anya Tate-Manning'
Brook Bray       Hamlet             'Hamlet'
Helen Fearnley  Blood of the Lamb 'Henry Higginson'
Kate Schrader   Attila the Hun    'Jo'
Mac Veitch        The Lieutenant of Inishmore  'Padraic Osbourne'
Maddie May      How to Be a Stripper      'Maddie May'
Michael Hurst    An Iliad                            'The Poet'
Moira Fortin      The Motorway                'The Narrator'
Orion Carey-Clark          Attila the Hun    'Attila the Hun'
Robert Tucker   Don Giovanni                 'Don Giovanni'
Sara Georgie     Eloise in the Middle    ‘Eloise’ and ‘Karen'
Simon O'Connor Watching Paint Dry      'The Performer'

OUTSTANDING SCRIPT/NARRATIVE               

Abby Howells    Attila the Hun                Playwright
Emer Lyons      The Green                     Playwright
Emily Duncan    Eloise in the Middle        Playwright
John Drummond Don Giovanni               Spoken dialogue
Maddie May      How To Be A Stripper     Playwright
Rochelle Brophy and Jonathan Cweorth
                         Elemental                      Narrative

OUTSTANDING VISITING PRODUCTION                      

Hudson & Halls LIVE!    Silo Theatre      
Jane Doe          Zanetti Productions with Q Theatre        
Jekyll and Hyde             A Slightly Isolated Dog           
Medea                          Ghost Light Theatre      
My Best Dead Friend    Zanetti Productions      
The Dust Pilgrim            Red Leap         
Troll                              Trick of the Light          

OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY PRODUCTION                

Boy Braille                    Julie Woods     
Frankensplurta               Hairy Minded Productions         
Intergalactic Space Pirates Puppet Show Philip Lomas   
Mental Notes                 Suitcase Theatre           
Public Programme of Events      Toitu OSM                          

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE                

Cast of Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense           
Cast of Attila the Hun   
Cast of 4 Note Opera    
Cast of Finding Murdoch           
Cast of The Lieutenant of Inishmore       
Cast of Fold

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR                   

Andrew McKenzie          Finding Murdoch           
Jonathan Cweorth          Elemental         
Jonathon Hendry           An Iliad
Jordan Dickson             Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense         
Kerry Lane                    Hamlet 
Orion Carey-Clark          The Lieutenant of Inishmore       
Richard Huber               Blood of the Lamb         

PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR               

An Iliad Fortune Theatre
Blood of the Lamb          Globe Theatre  
Elemental          Brophy Aerials 
Eloise in the Middle        Prospect Park Productions       
Finding Murdoch            Globe Theatre  
Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense   Fortune Theatre
The Lieutenant of Inishmore        Arcade Productions