2022 Sydney Theatre Awards Winners Announced

The winners of the 2022 Sydney Theatre Awards were announced on January 23, 2023 at a star-studded ceremony, with 30 Awards presented, shared between 18 productions which played on Sydney stages during 2022. Over 500 members of the Sydney theatre community gathered at the York Theatre, Seymour Centre to celebrate.

Best Mainstage Production was awarded to Belvoir’s The Jungle and the Sea, which also won Best New Australian Work (S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack), Best Ensemble and Best Original Score of a Mainstage Production (Arjunan Puveendran). Best Independent Production went to Albion from Secret House, New Ghosts Theatre Company and Seymour Centre, which also took home Best Direction of an Independent Production (Lucy Clements). Best Direction of a Mainstage Production was presented to Kip Williams for Sydney Theatre Company’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, while Best Performer in a Leading Role in a Mainstage Production went to Heather Mitchell (RBG: Of Many, One). Best Performer in a Leading Role in an Independent Production was awarded to Jane Phegan (The End of Winter).

Image: The Jungle and the Sea. Photographer: Don Arnold

Best Musical was presented to Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Global Creatures) and Best Direction of a Musical to Cameron Mitchell (Nice Work If You Can Get It). The Judith Johnson Award for Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Musical went to Stefanie Jones (Mary Poppins), and Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical went to Simon Burke (Moulin Rouge! The Musical). Masego Pitso (Chewing Gum Dreams) took home Best Newcomer.

Two Sydney Theatre Awards for Lifetime Achievement were presented, one to legendary photographer and performance artist William Yang, and the other to beloved Executive Producer John “Robbo” Robertson. William Yang combined his skills as a writer and photographer in 1989 when he began to perform monologues with slide projection as theatre shows. William has created seven full-length performance pieces, including Shadows, Blood links and Objects For Meditation. His third show, Sadness, which wove together two themes, the discovery of his Chinese heritage and the rituals of dying and death in Sydney, toured successfully nationally and internationally.

Image: Albion. Photographer Clare Hawley.

In 1956, John Robertson left a career in accountancy to join the theatre, and has since worked as a stage manager, production manager, stage director and executive producer. As Operations Manager for Adelaide Festival Centre Trust, he worked on touring productions of Evita, Annie, Barnum and Oklahoma amongst others. “Robbo” then joined Cameron Mackintosh’s Australian company and was Executive Producer for the original Australian productions of Cats, Les Misérables, Five Guys Named Moe, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Rent. He has since leant his expertise as a consultant to many tours throughout Australia and Asia.

Presenters at the Awards ceremony included Liz Alexander, Nancye Hayes, Michelle Lim Davidson, David McAllister, Elise McCann, Steve Rodgers, Tobhiyah Stone Feller, Melanie Tait, Michael Tyack, Daryl Wallis, Elijah Williams, Darren Yap and Ursula Yovich. There were performances by four of musical theatre’s greatest stars, a performance by Brittanie Shipway from the new Australian musical The Dismissal, and by 34 of the cast of the 1987, 1997 and 2014 Australian tours of Les Misérables, to celebrate the 35^th anniversary of the opening of the legendary musical in Australia.

The Sydney Theatre Awards are presented annually to celebrate the strength, quality and diversity of theatre in Sydney. The Sydney Theatre Awards gratefully thanks major sponsor The Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation, as well as other sponsors: William Fletcher Foundation, Showcast, Currency Press, Ticketmaster, Actors Benevolent Fund, Hayes Theatre Co, Griffin Theatre Company, Darlinghurst Theatre Company, ACMN, JPJ Audio, the Seymour Centre and Helen Constance.

 

WINNERS OF 2022 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS

 

BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

The Jungle and the Sea (Belvoir)

 

BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Albion (Secret House, New Ghosts Theatre Company and Seymour Centre)

 

BEST DIRECTION OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

Kip Williams (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)

 

BEST DIRECTION OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Lucy Clements (Albion)

 

BEST PERFORMER IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

Heather Mitchell (RBG: Of Many, One)

 

BEST PERFORMER IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Jane Phegan (The End of Winter)

 

BEST PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

Peter Carroll (The Tempest)

 

BEST PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Merridy Eastman (Hand to God)

 

BEST STAGE DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

Mel Page (A Raisin in the Sun)

 

BEST STAGE DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Grace Deacon and Kelsey Lee (Destroy, She Said)

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

Romance Was Born and Anna Cordingley (Amadeus)

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Esther Zhong (Moon Rabbit Rising)

 

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

Nick Schlieper (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)

 

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Tyler Fitzpatrick (Moon Rabbit Rising)

 

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

Michael Toisuta (Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde)

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

Arjunan Puveendran (The Jungle and the Sea)

 

BEST SOUND DESIGN AND COMPOSITION OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION

Christine Pan (Moon Rabbit Rising)

 

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK

The Jungle and the Sea (S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack)

 

BEST NEWCOMER

Masego Pitso (Chewing Gum Dreams)

 

BEST ENSEMBLE

The Jungle and the Sea (Belvoir)

 

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL

Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Global Creatures)

 

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL

Cameron Mitchell (Nice Work If You Can Get It)

 

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL

Stefanie Jones (Mary Poppins)

 

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL

Simon Burke (Moulin Rouge! The Musical)

 

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION

Chris King, Steven Kramer and Nigel Ubrihien (Jekyll and Hyde)

 

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY OF A MUSICAL

Cameron Mitchell (Nice Work If You Can Get It)

 

BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN

Yong (Monkey Baa Theatre)

 

BEST PRODUCTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

The Deb (ATYP)

 

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

John Robertson

William Yang