Matilda Awards 2024: A Theatrical Triumph of Diversity and Creativity

Kitty Goodall reports

The stars, the creators, and the supporters of Queensland's performing arts scene were glammed up and poised for a million air kisses on Monday night (February 24) for the annual Matilda Awards. The event, held at Brisbane’s Powerhouse Theatre, celebrated the best and brightest of the state's performance industry, honouring outstanding contributions both on and off the stage in 2024. Reflecting the vibrancy and passion of Queensland’s arts sector, the event struck the perfect balance of fun, hilarity, heartfelt moments, and sincere recognition.

The warm atmosphere was set from the start by our talented and jovial host, Sean Choolburra. His unaffected charm and comedic musings had the audience in stitches from the moment he delivered the opening monologue. Presenters were well selected too, with many delivering some brilliant jokes and heartfelt messages. The talented house band also added to the lively atmosphere with cleverly curated intro’ tunes for all of the presenters and award recipients.

Presenters and award winners alike all seemed to be of one mind when addressing the audience. Many spoke of the importance of honouring and remembering those pioneers of the local scene who paved the way for so many others, of nurturing up and coming talent, and the importance of diversity and the ways in which inclusion enriches storytelling. There was also a lot of talk of Queensland’s theatre community being a ‘family’, how vital it is to support the arts in rural areas, and how we need to destigmatise studying the arts when conversing with young people.

Now in its 37^th year, the Matilda’s presented a whopping 22 awards for 2024, two of which were newly added to the roster (but more on that later). So who was nominated and who went home with the shiny statues? Read on to find out!

Best Set Design

Nominees

Chloe Greaves, Medea – Queensland Theatre

Josh McIntosh, GRIMM – Shake & Stir Theatre Co, QPAC and Brisbane Festival

Renée Mulder, Gaslight – Rodney Rigby, Queensland Theatre, Marriner Group & TEG

Rozina Suliman, Wanderings – The Nest Ensemble/DOOR 3 Queensland Theatre

Winner

Kevin O’Brien, Straight From The Strait – Opera Queensland, Yumpla Nerkep Foundation & QPAC, in association with Brisbane Festival

Kevin blessed us with a short and sweet speech, in which he gave credit to his fellow nominees, saying, “I’m very, very thrilled and also honoured to be amongst this group of set designers who do amazing work. All the stuff I've seen, I just keep getting blown away every time I see something new.”

Best Costume Design

Nominees

Frances Foo, Scenes from a Yellow Peril – The Reaction Theory & BIPOC ARTS AUSTRALIA

Libby McDonnell, Dido and Aeneas – Opera Queensland, in association with Circa

Renée Mulder, Gaslight – Rodney Rigby, Queensland Theatre, Marriner Group & TEG

Deborah Ralston and Seren Wagstaff, Slippery – Curtain World

Winners

Lisa Fa’alafi & Leah Shelton, Dangerous Goods – A Polytoxic Production presented by QPAC

Of their selection, the Matilda judges said, “In this polished cabaret reclaiming the right to be dangerous, Lisa and Leah's costumes were clever, striking and often wittily transformable…The costume design gave a bold and culturally strong statement which boosted this empowering production.” 

Best Composition and/or Sound Design

Nominees

Brady Watkins, Moss McGregor and Loki Liddle, Meet Your Maker – Alethea Beetson, Blak Social, Brisbane Festival & Brisbane Powerhouse

Wil Hughes, Blue – A Belvoir Street production, presented by La Boite Theatre

Guy Webster, Cost of Living – Queensland Theatre & Sydney Theatre Company

Guy Webster, GRIMM – Shake & Stir Theatre Co, QPAC and Brisbane Festival

Winner

Anna Whitaker, Ready or Not – White Rabbit Theatre & HOTA

The judges noted, “Whitaker blends original composition, familiar swing tunes, recorded voice, diegetic soundscapes and perfectly timed effects to deepen the layers of meaning, humour and memory in Ready or Not.”

Best Lighting Design

Nominees

Briana Clark, Scenes From A Yellow Peril – The Reaction Theory & BIPOC ARTS AUSTRALIA

Ben Hughes, 37 – Queensland Theatre & Melbourne Theatre Company

Paul Jackson, Gaslight – Rodney Rigby, Queensland Theatre, Marriner Group & TEG

Geoff Squires, AI May – Embodi Theatre/PIP Theatre

Winner

Jason Glenwright, Straight From The Strait – Opera Queensland, Yumpla Nerkep Foundation & QPAC, in association with Brisbane Festival

Of Glenwright’s lighting, the judges said, “It accentuates the unfolding narrative with a rich sense of place… all the while brilliantly showcasing the songs, dances and stories of the 15 strong cast and onstage live band.”

Best Video Design

Nominees

Nevin Howell, Eat Slay Zombie – A Playlab Theatre Production, Presented in Partnership with QPAC

Freddy Komp, AI May – Embodi Theatre/PIP Theatre

Craig Wilkinson & Jon Weber, James and the Giant Peach – Shake & Stir Theatre Co & QPAC

Craig Wilkinson, Round The Twist – Queensland Theatre & QPAC

Winners

Alethea Beetson, Sasha Parlett, Boneta-Marie Mabo & Ken Weston, Meet Your Maker – Alethea Beetson, Blak Social, Brisbane Festival & Brisbane Powerhouse

“Video Design was integral to the genre-busting production of Meet Your Maker,” The Matilda judges said, “Dynamic in its integration and execution, the design embodied and navigated multiple styles and genres with expert skill and ease – from pop concerts and music video to science fiction and film parody and more…As a character that was central to the storytelling, Meet Your Maker's video design continues to demonstrate how the form is changing the language of theatre, film and live performance.”

Best Direction

Nominees

Chelsea August & Egan Sun-Bin, Scenes From A Yellow Peril – The Reaction Theory & BIPOC ARTS AUSTRALIA

Yaron Lifschitz, Dido and Aeneas – Opera Queensland, in association with Circa

Nadine McDonald-Dowd, Straight From The Strait – Opera Queensland, Yumpla Nerkep Foundation & QPAC, in association with Brisbane Festival

Lisa Smith, Ready or Not – White Rabbit Theatre & HOTA

Winner

Isaac Drandic, 37 – Queensland Theatre & Melbourne Theatre Company

Drandic wasn’t in attendance on the night, with Queensland Theatre’s Artistic Director Daniel Evans accepting on his behalf. During his speech, Evans spoke of the importance of cultivating first nations storytelling, and QT’s dedication to supporting indigenous artists through Isaac Drandic’s role of Head of First Nations Theatre with the company.

“One of the best perks of this job is that it's absolutely brilliant to work alongside Isaac and our head of First Nations Theatre… in dreaming up how a main stage theatre company can support the development of First Nations Theatre and its artists, carving space for non-Western art making process, forging pathways for the next generation of and supporting ambitious, heart-led storytelling, of which 37 will be the first of many,” said Evans, “Watch this space!”

Best Performance in a Leading Role - Independent Production

Nominees

Margi Brown Ash, Wanderings – The Nest Ensemble/DOOR 3 Queensland Theatre

Adam Bartlett, Fun Home – PIP Theatre

Leo Buzac, After The End – Salad Days Collective

Ainslee Palmer, Ready or Not – White Rabbit Theatre & HOTA

Winner

CJ de Mooi, Banana Crabtree Simon – de Mooi Media

Winning the hearts of everyone in the room, CJ said in his acceptance speech, “Two and a half years ago I gave up my TV career deleted all my social media accounts left the UK and moved to Australia and I've been in Brisbane now for about 15 months and it is the best city I've ever lived in so I just want to say first of all thank you to Matilda Awards everybody in this room everybody in Brisbane everybody in Queensland and everybody in Australia because for the first time in my life I have a smile on my face and I'm home.”

Best Performance in a Leading Role - Mainstage Production

Nominees

Nelle Lee, GRIMM – Shake & Stir Theatre Co, QPAC and Brisbane Festival

Jade Lomas Ronan, Eat Slay Zombie - A Playlab Theatre Production, Presented in Partnership with QPAC

Vaughan Wapau, Straight From The Strait – Opera Queensland, Yumpla Nerkep Foundation & QPAC, in association with Brisbane Festival

Tibian Wyles, 37 – Queensland Theatre & Melbourne Theatre Company

Winner

Thomas Weatherall, Blue – A Belvoir Street production, presented by La Boite Theatre

La Boite Theatre senior producer Jess Bunz accepted on the winner’s behalf, saying, “It was such a privilege having Tom's beautiful work in our theatre for a couple of weeks. We were so privileged to have it and so were the beautiful audiences that came and saw it.”

Best Performance in a Supporting Role Independent Production

Nominees

Jaya Fisher-Smith, A Night With The Villains – Mira Ball Productions

Greg Gesch, Love Lies Bleeding – Ad Astra

Julia Johnson, Equus – The X Collective

Rebecca Murphy, Julius Caesar – Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble

Winner

Micheal Enright, Fun Home – PIP Theatre

Micheal’s speech was off the cuff and brought a lot of joy to the room with statements such as, “Thank you to my partner Tyler who is so supportive of me being gay all the time.”, “Thank you to my mum for driving me to just every rehearsal when I was a kid and now I'm here winning an award… oh wow!”, and, “I saw so many butch and non-conforming women and lesbians and non-binaries come to that show (Fun Home) in such crowds and it was beautiful. Whoa I need to leave the stage before I cry.”

Best Performance in a Supporting Role - Mainstage Production

Nominees

Helen Cassidy, Medea – Queensland Theatre

Georgia Corowa, Straight From The Strait – Opera Queensland, Yumpla Nerkep Foundation & QPAC, in association with Brisbane Festival

Anthony Standish, 37 – Queensland Theatre & Melbourne Theatre Company

Nic Van Lits, Round The Twist – Queensland Theatre & QPAC

Winner

Kimie Tsukakoshi, Trent Dalton's Love Stories – Brisbane Festival & QPAC

The judges said, “It’s hard enough to deliver one strong supporting performance on stage. It’s harder still to play three drastically different characters in an ensemble of 11—and still manage to stand out. But that is exactly what Kimie Tsukakoshi does in Love Stories.”

Best Ensemble

Nominees

Broadway Bingo – Outside The Jukebox

Horizon – A Playlab Theatre Production

Merrily We Roll Along – Ad Astra

Slippery – Curtain World

Winners

Scenes From A Yellow Peril – The Reaction Theory & BIPOC ARTS AUSTRALIA

In a passionate speech, Chris Nguyen said, “It stuns me to think that an ensemble of emerging Asian artists gets to win this award that we get to defy all odds and prove the Brisbane theatre that we are worth having on stage meaningful to our community their representation isn't tiresome or a chore but it's something beautiful and exciting to behold.”

Bille Brown Award for Best Emerging Artist

Nominees

Sophia Ivanna Hodych – Creation, Co-direction, Co-writing: Art of Courage, Art of Courage UKRAINE, PIP Theatre, Brisbane Immersive,

Adelaide Lukin – Set and Costume Design: Love Lies Bleeding, Ad Astra; Direction: A Balloon Will Pop *at some point during this play, PIP Theatre, East and Under Theatre Co; Mask Design: Art of Courage, Art of Courage Ukraine, PIP Theatre, Brisbane Immersive; Prop Design: Adventures of Peter Rabbit, Small Crown Productions 

Clarise Ooi – Performance: AI May, Embodi Theatre/PIP Theatre

Thomas Weatherall – Creation, Writing, Performance: Blue, A Belvoir Street production, presented by La Boite Theatre

Winners

Salad Days Collective – Body of Work: After The End, Backdock Arts; Scenes With Girls, PIP Theatre; Love, VENTspace

The Salad Days team packed a lot of meaning into their speech, with Jasmine

Prasser saying, “Leo (Buzac) and I first started Salad Days Collective a year ago with a mission to bring young people to the theatre who weren't already circulating the scene by telling stories that we identified with as young people living in this current society.”

Buzac added, “Everyone creative has a different idea of what theatre should be and I think that's great I think everyone in this room has a different idea of what theatre is but I think that the one thing that we can all agree on is that theatre is the most important storytelling tool we have in society and we need to continue honouring that for generations to come.”

Co producer Georgina Sawyer said, “I was told to drop out of drama in high school. I think that when you're told to drop out of drama and arts and that maths and science is weighted more heavily, that's a really tough thing to go up against as a society when you're told systematically from the beginning that those things aren't as important, and I think that's something we need to change.”

Best Musical or Cabaret

Nominees

Dangerous Goods – A Polytoxic Production presented by QPAC

Fun Home – PIP Theatre

Merrily We Roll Along – Ad Astra

Round The Twist – Queensland Theatre & QPAC

Winner

Straight From The Strait – Opera Queensland, Yumpla Nerkep Foundation & QPAC, in association with Brisbane Festival

During her acceptance, composer and co-librettist Rubina Kimiia said, “This is not just a triumph for the creators and performers but for more so for the remarkable Torres Strait Islander men and women whose stories we tell… This award is a victory for our communities, for our culture and for every person who has shared in this journey.”

Best Circus or Physical Theatre Work

Nominees

Camp Culture – Dale Woodbridge Brown & Cluster Arts

[gameboy] by Amy Zhang – Presented by Metro Arts and Mad Dance House. Presented as part of Dance24

Suavé – The Pink Flamingo Brisbane

Winner

Dido and Aeneas – Opera Queensland, in association with Circa

Opera Queensland’s Patrick Nolan, in accepting the award said, “You know a lot of people said to us when we said we wanted to create a production with Circa that we were letting the carnies into the cathedral. Isn't that a good thing? Because the first production we created with them we're actually taking to the Edinburgh Festival later this year! So you know sometimes - no actually not sometimes - all the time you need to take risks. Here's to taking risks and a lot more of them!”

Best Independent Production

Nominees

AI May – Embodi Theatre/PIP Theatre

Banana Crabtree Simon – de Mooi Media

Love Lies Bleeding – Ad Astra

Ready or Not – White Rabbit Theatre & HOTA

Winner

Scenes From A Yellow Peril – The Reaction Theory & BIPOC ARTS AUSTRALIA

Of their selection, the judges said, “The play was a deeply moving portrayal of Asian identity in a non-Asian culture, capturing the heartache, resilience, and triumphs of a community often overlooked. In a sharp, tightly disciplined production, each scene was filled with raw emotion, making an audience laugh, cry, and reflect on the realities many face. The powerful performances and heartfelt storytelling were thought-provoking and often inspirational, shedding light on identity, family, and perseverance in a way that resonated deeply.”

Best Mainstage Production

Nominees

Eat Slay Zombie – A Playlab Theatre Production, Presented in Partnership with QPAC

GRIMM – Shake & Stir Theatre Co, QPAC and Brisbane Festival

Medea – Queensland Theatre

Trent Dalton’s Love Stories – Brisbane Festival & QPAC

Winner

37 – Queensland Theatre & Melbourne Theatre Company

“By combining the high drama of an AFL game with the beauty and subtlety of great Australian theatre, 37 delivers a masterclass in mainstage excellence—one that is as visceral as it is poetic,” the judges said.

The Lord Mayor’s Award for Best New Australian Work

Nominees

Eat Slay Zombie – Playwright: Alinta McGrady (A Playlab Theatre Production, Presented in Partnership with QPAC)

Ready or Not – Creator: Ainslee Palmer (White Rabbit Theatre & HOTA)

Slippery – Playwright: Esther Dougherty (Curtain World)

Wanderings – Co-writers: Margi Brown Ash, Zac Callaghan & Leah Mercer (The Nest Ensemble/DOOR 3 Queensland Theatre)

Winner 

Blue – Playwright: Thomas Weatherall (A Belvoir Street production, presented by La Boite Theatre)

Head judge Sue Rider said, “The quality of the productions was outstanding which made the Lord Mayor's task of picking extremely tricky.”

The Judges’ Award is given at the judges’ discretion and isn’t necessarily presented every year. Fortunately for the recipients, 2024 was a year worthy of their special attention, with the award going to Straight From The Strait (Opera Queensland, Yumpla Nerkep Foundation & QPAC, in association with Brisbane Festival).

The Behind the Scenes Award is another special category, with the 2024 accolade going to Brendan O’Connor of TheatreiNQ. Brendan is a multi-talented theatre professional whose work as a builder, set designer, artist, mentor, and technical expert has significantly shaped the arts in Far North Queensland. As Co-founder and Associate Artistic Director of TheatreiNQ in Townsville, he has been instrumental in the company’s success, and his contributions have enriched both the local theatre scene and the wider community, inspiring countless performers and young artists along the way.

As promised, two new awards were announced on the night by Michael Balk, President of the Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund. Balk spoke of the importance of community and heritage in the arts, saying, “I'd like to take a moment tonight to remind us that part of our work as a community of storytellers must be to honour and memorialise our elders.” Before revealing the two new awards are named in memory of great local artists who have passed away.

The first new trophy being the Carol Burns award for a Mid-career Performer, which went to Ashley Lowe. The award, “Recognises an already established Queensland performer whose career is elevating to the next level,” said Balk, adding, “The award considers more than just one single distinguished performance in a calendar year and considers the sum of work nominees have achieved over a period of at least five years.” 

The second new award was the Tony Gould Award for an Independent Arts Company, which went to THAT Production Company which is based in Ipswich, Queensland.

“I would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out if to a lot of the emerging, hustling, independent, small to medium arts companies that exist outside of metropolitan Brisbane,” said Artistic Director Timothy Wynn, “These companies I think hold open the door to the rest of Queensland for us and it's about time that we took them up on the offer! So when you're next visiting your family in regional Queensland, you're out of town for work, or you're doing a Queensland road trip, go on their social media look up their website and find out what's on buy a ticket.”

And the Gold Matilda went to (dramatic pause)… Flipside Circus. One of Queensland’s leading youth arts organisations, Flipside has been nurturing young circus artists since 1994. From humble beginnings under a tree in Davies Park, they’ve grown into a powerhouse of physical performance, creating acclaimed shows like We Live Here and Wilbur the Optical Whale. In 2023, they opened a $2.4 million state-of-the-art training and performance space in Hamilton, only to face a devastating fire in early 2024. Undeterred, Flipside continued their mission, delivering thousands of workshops across Queensland, including programs for regional, remote, and diverse communities.

When chatting with people after the show, winners, nominees, and supporters all agreed this year’s Matilda Awards ceremony was the best ever. The atmosphere, production values, entertainment, presenters and even the subject matter of the speeches were all enjoyed thoroughly by one and all. It’s an amazing feat, especially when you consider the Matilda Awards only exists due to the dedication and commitment of volunteers in the theatre community in Queensland. We at Stage Whispers would like to congratulate all involved in the production and judging and of course all of the nominees and award winners.