Join us at The Hannah on 6 December for the Wellington Theatre Awards, Ngā Whakarākei O Whātaitai 2026, celebrating excellence in theatre.
We are excited to announce our new creative team for 2026: Co-hosts Maeve O'Connell and Raureti Ormond, and Creative Director, Parekawa Finlay.
For more information, please go to News page.
Photography Credit: Renati Waaka
Nominations for the Community and Backstage Awards for 2026 are now closed.
Judging for the 2027 Wellington Theatre Awards is open from 14 November 2026 to 14 November 2027. Invite judges to your show by filling out the form here:
The 2026 Awards are proudly supported by:
Current Judges
The winners and nominees of the annual Wellington Theatre Awards are selected by a panel of judges, comprising a diverse range of theatre lovers, practitioners, critics, old hands and fresh energy.
An Arbiter chairs the meeting at which nominees are selected, and later counts the votes after the judges have voted by secret ballot.
The current Judging Panel consists of:
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Lia Kelly
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Kate Anderson
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Phoebe Caldeiro
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Christopher Yu
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Amy Tarleton
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Lucas Neal
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Jthan Morgan
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Brynne Tasker-Poland
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Regan Taylor
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Simon Howard
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Sameena Zehra
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Marshall Rankin
The judges were nominated by the community, and selected by the current judging panel, the Trustees , and Wellington’s Theatre Cluster, comprised of representatives from: The Hannah, Barbarian Productions, BATS Theatre, Circa Theatre, Taki Rua Productions, PAYPA, Tahi Festival, NZ Fringe Festival, Victoria University of Wellington, Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School, Playmarket and Tāwhiri.
Show Eligibility
All professional New Zealand theatre performed in Wellington is deemed eligible.
If a show is staged as a development season, it does not become eligible until its premiere season. This is to avoid a show being “marked down” while it is still a work in progress.
A return season of a prior year’s production is also considered ineligible, as you can’t have the same show winning the same awards in multiple years.
Productions between 14th November 2026 and 13th November 2027 will be eligible for judging in the 2027 Wellington Theatre Awards.
Inviting Judges
Please fill out the following form to invite judges to your performances.
For judging, please make tickets available to all our judges (one per judge), preferably early in the show season.
We understand that not all venues and productions will be able to offer all our judges complimentary tickets. Please offer as many as you can. If you have any questions around eligibility or inviting judges, please email wgtnta@gmail.com