This year’s celebration of excellent professional theatre in the cultural capital took place on the evening of Sunday 9 December in the Amokura Gallery at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongawera.
This 2018 awards ceremony celebrated with the theme of Our Voice - a reflection on and celebration of 125 years of women’s suffrage in New Zealand and the power of the collective voice.
Together we honoured and acknowledged the brightest stars among the actors, directors, producers, writers, designers, technicians and theatre affiliates who have graced Wellington’s stages in 2018.
Full list of winners and nominees are listed below.
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The winners of the 2018 Wellington Theatre Awards were:
The George Webby Most Promising Newcomer Award
Eleanor Strathern, Producer, A Mulled Whine
The Willem Wassenaar Most Promising Newcomer Award
Trae Te Wiki, Acting Hine Kahāwai; Writing Beneath Skin and Bone
Lighting Designer of the Year
Rachel Marlow Wild Dogs | Peter and the Wolf
Sound Designer of the Year
Eden Mulholland Meremere | Rushes
The Constance Scott Kirkaldie Outstanding Composer of Music
Robin Kelly Valerie
Set Designer of the Year
John Verryt Rushes
The Paul Jenden Costume Designer of the Year
Sheila Horton Bloomsbury Women and the Wild Colonial Girl
The Peter Harcourt New Playwright of the Year
Hōhepa Waitoa He Kura E Huna Ana
Outstanding new New Zealand Play of the Year
D. F. Mamea Still Life with Chickens
The Absolutely Positively Most Original Production of the Year
Jane Doe Zanetti Productions
The Grant Tilly Actor of the Year
Rodney Bell Meremere
The Dorothy McKegg Actress of the Year
Anapela Polataivao Wild Dogs Under my Skirt
The Campion Accolade for Outstanding Performance
Goretti Chadwick Still Life with Chickens
The Michele Amas Accolade for Outstanding Performance
Anya Tate-Manning My Best Dead Friend
Excellence Award for AV Design
Rowan Pierce Big J Stylez | Meremere | Rushes
Excellence Award for Puppetry
Peter and The Wolf
Excellence Award for Community Engagement
Taurima Vibes Breathe | All Good
Director of the Year
Malia Johnston Meremere | Rushes
The Jack Jeffs Charitable Trust Production of the Year
Wild Dogs Under my Skirt NZ Festival and FCC
The Mayoral Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre
Sue Paterson
The 2018 nominees are: (in alphabetical order)
Most Promising Newcomer (Two awards)
Eleanor Strathern, Producer A Mulled Whine
Ella Gilbert, Actor Soft Tissue
Kalyani Nagarajan Mrs Krishnan's Party
Kasiano Mita, Talofa Papa
Manuel Solomon, Choreographer Spring Awakening
Trae Te Wiki, Acting | Hine Kahāwai, Writing Beneath Skin and Bone
Lighting Designer
Morgan Whitfield Rushes
Owen McCarthy Actual Fact
Rachel Marlow Wild Dogs | Peter and the Wolf
Sound Designer
Claire Duncan Medusa
Eden Mulholland Meremere | Rushes
Te Aihe Butler Bless the Child
Set Designer
Daniel Williams Peter and the Wolf
John Verryt Rushes
Meg Rollandi & Isobel MacKinnon Actual Fact
Costume Designer
Amy Macaskill He Kura E Huna Ana
Sheila Horton Bloomsbury Women and the Wild Colonial Girl
Wai Mihinui Ka Tito Au
Composer of Music
Alayne Dick, Harriet Hughes, Rosie Howells, Jamie MacDonald Discharge is Rotten to the Core
Eden Mulholland Meremere | Rushes
Robin Kelly Valerie
New Playwright
Dominic Hoey Your Heart Looks Like a Vagina
Hōhepa Waitoa He Kura E Huna Ana
Isaac Te Reina Cleland All Good
New NZ Play
Anya Tate-Manning and Isobel MacKinnon My Best Dead Friend
Apirana Taylor Ka Tito Au
D. F. Mamea Still Life with Chickens
Most Original Production
Big J Stylez
Jane Doe
Medusa
Actor of the Year, Actress of the Year, Outstanding Performance (Four awards in total)
Anapela Polataivao Wild Dogs Under my Skirt
Andrew Laing Wonderful
Anya Tate-Manning My Best Dead Friend
Amy Tarleton Modern Girls in Bed
Bronwyn Turei Modern Girls in Bed
Goretti Chadwick Still Life with Chickens
John Landreth Movers
Leon Wadham Giddy
Lisa Harrow At the Wake
Reuben Butler Hine Kihāwai
Rodney Bell Meremere
Simon Leary Switzerland
Excellence Award for AV Design
Charley Draper, Meg Rollandi and Isobel MacKinnon Actual Fact
Rowan Pierce Big J Stylez | Meremere | Rushes
Excellence Award for puppetry
Peter and The Wolf
Still Life with Chickens
Excellence Award for Community Engagement
Equal Voices Arts Salonica
Fafswag Fa'aafa
Taurima Vibes Breathe | All Good
Director of the Year
Anapela Polataivao Wild Dogs Under My Skirt
Jade Eriksen Giddy | Soft Tissue
Malia Johnston Meremere | Rushes
Production of the Year
My Best Dead Friend
Rushes
Still Life with Chickens
Wild Dogs Under My Skirt
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2018 WINNERS & NOMINEES!
