Sydney Theatre Company's artistic director Kip Williams has had a stellar first year at the helm of the country's biggest theatre company. In 2018, he programmed his first full season, and the results have paid off at this year's Sydney Theatre Awards, where his company picked up all but one of the awards available for mainstage plays.
Two plays – both directed by Williams – dominated those categories: The Harp in the South, which picked up three awards including Best Mainstage Production, and quadruple winner The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, for which Hugo Weaving won Best Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Mainstage Production. The female equivalent went to Claire Lovering for her performance in Griffin Theatre Company's The Feather in the Web.
The Hayes Theatre Company managed to continue its domination of the musical theatre categories, with Cry-Baby winning four awards, including Best Production of a Musical, and In The Heights picked up three. They staved off competition from the commercial sector, although The Book of Mormon won two awards for supporting performances (Rowan Witt and Zahra Newman).
The independent theatre categories were a little more evenly spread, with Metamorphoses picking up four awards and The Flick and Stupid Fucking Bird getting two a piece.
See the full winners list below, and check out the best theatre in Sydney this month.
BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
The Harp in the South (Sydney Theatre Company)
BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Stupid Fucking Bird (New Theatre)
BEST DIRECTION OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Kip Williams (Harp in the South)
BEST DIRECTION OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Dino Dimitriadis (Metamorphoses)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Claire Lovering (The Feather in the Web)
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Hugo Weaving (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Nikki Shiels (They Divided the Sky)
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Justin Amankwah (The Flick)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Kate Box (Top Girls)
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Mitchell Butel (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui)
BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Annie Stafford (Stupid Fucking Bird)
BEST MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Damon Manns (The Rolling Stone)
BEST STAGE DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Robert Cousins (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui)
BEST STAGE DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Isabel Hudson (Cry-Baby)
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Renée Mulder (Top Girls)
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Jonathan Hindmarsh (Metamorphoses)
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Verity Hampson (Blackie Blackie Brown)
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Benjamin Brockman (Metamorphoses)
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Stefan Gregory (The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui)
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
William Barton (The Long Forgotten Dream)
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Ben Pierpoint (Metamorphoses)
BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
The Harp in the South (Kate Mulvany)
BEST NEWCOMER
Justin Amankwah (The Flick)
BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Cry-Baby (LPD in association with Hayes Theatre Co)
BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Alexander Berlage (Cry-Baby)
JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Ashleigh Rubenach (Cry-Baby)
JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Ryan Gonzalez (In the Heights)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Zahra Newman (The Book of Mormon)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Rowan Witt (The Book of Mormon)
BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Lucy Bermingham (In the Heights)
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY IN A MUSICAL
Amy Campbell (In the Heights)
BEST CABARET PRODUCTION
Since Ali Died (Omar Musa)
BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN OR YOUNG PEOPLE
Josephine Wants to Dance (Monkey Baa)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Robert Love