The Blue Room's 2009 Equity Nominees
25 Sep 09, 03:29AM
Awards tinted Blue
Best Production – Best New Play – Best Actor – Best Director
– Best Supporting Actor – Best Newcomer –
The Blue Room is proud to congratulate its 13 nominated members and six nominated shows in the running for this year’s Perth Theatre Trust / Equity Guild Awards (PTT/EGA), to be presented on 2 November, 2009.
A hub for independent live theatre in WA, the Northbridge venue and performing arts resource and membership organization, which presents mostly local new works, showcased 12 world premiere productions in the past Award year (July ‘08- June ’09).
Nominated for this year’s Blue Room Members’ Choice Award, the popular Horse Head by Damon Lockwood has won over critics and judges to receive a nomination from Stages WA for Equity’s Best New Play, a welcome return for the category which was conspicuously absent last year.
Matt Penny’s world premiere adaptation of award-winning UK author Rupert Thomson’s novel Death of a Murderer was the vehicle for Kingsley Judd’s Best Supporting Actor nomination; while Kate and Jeremy Rice’s production based on an online forum about a play – Apocalypse Perth - earned actor Whitney Richards a place in the Best Newcomer category.
Extant texts also showcased this year’s award nominees. Red Ryder Productions’ West Australian premiere of Dying City – a New York Times’ Top Ten Play of 2007 – directed by Emily McLean, leads the charge with nominations for the sought-after Best Director and Best Production awards.
The WA premiere of A View of Concrete, by Melbourne playwright Gareth Ellis, provided the pathway to Anna Brockway’s Best Actor nomination; and director Renee Newman Storen’s take on French classic The Maids sees Caitlin Beresford-Ord up for Best Supporting Actor.
The Equity Guild Awards are judged by a peer panel of three representatives from the theatre industry, arts media and theatre-going public.
Other awards to be given out on 2 November include Best Design, Members’ Choice (Best Performer), and the Guild Award for services to the Guild and wider industry.
Stay tuned for the 2009 PTT/EGA winners to be announced early November. For more information visit www.equityguild.org.au/guildawards.html .
