December 11, 2017

WELLINGTON THEATRE AWARDS Ngā Whakarākei o Whātaitai 2017  

6:30pm Sunday 10 December  

St James Theatre Wellington 

Wellington’s theatre industry gathered on the stage of St James Theatre on Sunday 10 December to celebrate theatrical achievements and artistic excellence in 2017, and to honour the 25th anniversary of the awards.

The evening began with a mihi by Taki Rua’s Tānemahuta Gray and the announcement of the Wellington Theatre Awards’ name in Te Reo Māori, Ngā Whakarākei o Whātaitai (the adornment of Whātaitai), by Theatre Awards Trustee Richard Cathie.

Whātaitai is the taniwha who in his ambition to follow Ngake out of Wellington harbor, got trapped and became the isthmus between Miramar Peninsular (Motukairangi), and Mount Victoria (Matairangi) where is soul aspired to and is known as tangi te keo. This area is currently known as Hātaitai.

Whātaitai is also about the movement of the earth, as the performing arts in Wellington make significant changes on the local cultural and artistic landscape.

Stepping in as MC for his third and final year, MC James Nokise kept the jokes flowing and spoke to the importance of respect for our theatre kaumatua.

The Mayoral Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre went to Laughton Pattrick, whose decades of work in theatre, as a composer and as a music teacher have enriched the lives of thousands of students, theatre makers and theatre goers. Pattrick is also the former head of the music department at Wellington College of Education and the singing tutor at Toi Whakaari, New Zealand Drama School. Friends and family joined Pattrick on stage to sing Bread and Roses and If I Had Words in his honour. Mayor Justin Lester was in attendance to present the award.

Major winners on the night included Borderline Arts Ensemble’s Lobsters who took out The Campion Accolade for Outstanding Performance (Carmel McGlone), Sound Designer of the Year (Lucien Johnson) and the Excellence Award for Ensemble Performance.

The Jack Jeffs Charitable Trust Production of the Year was awarded to STAB Commission Body Double from Zanetti Productions, which was also acknowledged for lighting design with Lighting Designer of the Year Marcus McShane for The Father, Body Double and A Doll’s House, and Karin McCracken for The George Webby Most Promising Newcomer Award for both Body Double and Wine Lips.

The Wellington Theatre Awards congratulates all nominees and creatives on an excellent year of theatre. We can’t wait to see what you create in 2018!

The Theatre Awards Trust would like to sincerely acknowledge the incredible support of: Wellington City Council, Jack Jeffs Charitable Trust, The Lion Foundation, Four Winds Foundation, NW Group, The Dominion Post, BATS Theatre, Capital E, Circa Theatre, Emerging Artists Trust, Hannah Play House, Park Road Post, Playmarket, Showcast, Sileni Estates, Taki Rua, Toi Whakaari, Victoria University of Wellington, and WETA Workshop.

Here are the Nominees and the Winners (in bold):

The George Webby MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER*
The Willem Wassenaar MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER**
I Ken So Productions:   Riverside Kings
*Karin McCracken:   Wine Lips, Body Double
Lale Ausage:   Riverside Kings
**Lucas Neal:   Gallatea, Yellow Face, Marine Snow
Red Scare Theatre Company:   Under, M’Lady, Yellow Face
Trae Te Wiki:   The First Time

The Mayoral Award for SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THEATRE
Laughton Pattrick – composer, musical director, musician, singing teacher

LIGHTING DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Lisa Maule:   Anahera, Scarlet and Gold
Marcus McShane:   The Father, Body Double, A Doll’s House
Martyn Roberts:   Dark Matter
Nick Zwart:   Marine Snow 

SOUND DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Lucien Johnson:   Lobsters
Oliver Devlin:   Marine Snow
Te Aihe Butler:   Body Double

SET DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 
Ian Harman:   A Doll’s House, Hand to God
John Parker:   Miss Jean Batten
Wai Mihinui:   In the Wars

The Paul Jenden COSTUME DESIGNER OF THE YEAR 
Lisa Holmes:   That Bloody Woman
Sheila Horton:   Three Days in the Country
Cara Louise Waretini:   The Night Mechanics

The Constance Scott Kirkaldie OUSTANDING COMPOSER OF MUSIC
Adrian Hook, Oswell Didsbury, Rutene Spooner, Frith Horan, Kate McGill:   The Better Best Possible Album Party That Anybody Has Ever Been Two
Alex Taylor:   Dido and Aeneas:   Recomposed
Lucien Johnson:   Lobsters

The Peter Harcourt NEW PLAYWRIGHT OF THE YEAR 
Courtney Rose Brown:   The First Time
Emily Perkins:   A Doll’s House
Natano Keni and Sarita So:   Riverside Kings

OUTSTANDING NEW NEW ZEALAND PLAY
Courtney Rose Brown:   The First Time
Emily Perkins:   A Doll’s House
Emma Kinane:   Anahera

The Absolutely Positively MOST ORIGINAL PRODUCTION
Ancient Shrines and Half Truths
Dido and Aeneas: Recomposed
Lobsters

The Grant Tilly ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Benjamin Teh:   Yellow Face
Jeffrey Thomas:   The Father
Tom Clarke:   Wine Lips/Hand to God

The Dorothy McKegg ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Amy Tarleton:   Hand to God
Kali Kopae:   A Doll’s House
Neenah Dekkers-Reihana:   Anahera, The Mooncake and the Kūmara

The Campion ACCOLADE FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE*
The Michele Amas ACCOLADE FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE**
*Carmel McGlone:   Lobsters
Carrie Green:   The Night Mechanics
**Dawn Cheong:   The Night Mechanics
Julia Croft:   Body Double
Sophie Hambleton:   A Doll’s House
Stella Reid:   The Basement Tapes

EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR DESIGN
For media design:  Kevin Ramser for Body Double
For full production design:  Poppy Serano, Owen McCarthy, Waylon Edwards for Soft n Hard
For full production design:  Tanemahuta Gray, Gillie Coxhill, Nathan McKendry, Tiki Taane, Sam Trevethick, Guy Benfield, David Strong, Rowan Pierce, Dave Spark and Matthew Knight for Tiki Taane Mahuta.

EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Lobsters:  Borderline Arts Ensemble
The Undertow:  Te Rākau Theatre
The Wholehearted: Massive Theatre Company

Excellence Award for INNOVATIVE CONTRIBUTION to the industry and/or community
Paying For It
Te Haukāinga – Taki Rua Productions
The Performance Arcade

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Jane Yonge:   The Basement Tapes
Katie Wolfe:   The Mooncake and the Kūmara
Stella Reid:   Wine Lips

The Jack Jeffs Charitable Trust PRODUCTION OF THE YEAR
Body Double
Dark Matter
The Basement Tapes