December 8, 2015

Auckland Theatre Awards 2015 – Winners 

TOP ACCOLADES HANDED OUT TO AUCKLAND’S THEATRE COMMUNITY 

The Auckland Theatre Awards celebrated their 7th anniversary last night including the formally judged Excellence Awards. The awards were decided on by a panel of 6 judges who were kept secret until the event last night. The judging panel for 2015 were; former Metro editor Simon Wilson, producer Angela Green, playwright Sam Brooks, actor and director Jason Te Kare, costume designer Elizabeth Whiting and the 2014 lifetime achievement recipient and vocal coach Linda Cartwright.

Actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand presented the formal Excellence Awards.

The People’s Choice section was judged by public survey and received over 1000 nominations. 

The evening, held at the Wintergarden in the Civic, was attended by 350 members of the Auckland Theatre community, including well known faces Antonia Prebble, Laura Hill, Oliver Driver and Jennifer Ward-Lealand. Actor and comedian Kura Forrester hosted the event, which included skits, songs and students from the Actors Program and Unitec.

The winners of the 2015 Auckland Theatre Awards are as follows:

EXCELLENCE AWARDS 

1. Achieving excellence across all aspects of the production: The Book of Everything– Silo Theatre & Auckland Arts Festival.

2. Achieving excellence across all aspects of the production: Little Shop of Horrors– Live Live Cinema

3. Achieving excellence in set and lighting design for A Doll’s House: Tony Rabbit

4. Achieving excellence across all aspects of the production: All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever– The Playground Collective 

5. Achieving excellence in sound design and composition throughout 2015 – Thomas Press

6. Achieving excellence across all aspects of the production: Hudson & Halls Live!– Kip Chapman and the show’s creative team, Silo Theatre

THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

George Henare CNZM, OBE – Actor

MR. FAHRENHEIT PUBLICITY BEST NEWCOMERS*

Christine Urquhart – Set & Costume designer

Jordan Keyzer – Stage Manager & Producer

Gaby Solomona – Actor

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS

The HACKMAN Cup for Most Original Production – All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever– Playground Collective

Mangere Arts Centre Award for Best Ensemble – The company of The Book of Everything

The Auckland Actors Award for Best Death – Rose Matafeo in Rose Matafeo is Finally Dead

The Elephant Publicity Award for Best Poster – Ernest Rutherford: Everyone Can Science!

The Gail Cowan Award for Best Viral Marketing Campaign – The talking light bulb in All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever

The TAPAC Award for Best Entrance – Kate McGill & Frith Horan in The Best Possible Album Party that Anybody has Ever Been to  

The Equity New Zealand Award for Best show by Emerging Artists – Alice Canton in Orangutan 

The Playmarket Award for Best line in a Kiwi Play – “She doesn’t have a phone in her car – it’s not Star Trek” – Hudson and Halls Live!

The Johnson & Laird Management Award for Best Accent – Luci Hare in Lysistrata

The APRA Award for Best Music – Gareth Hobbs for All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever

The Kathryn Rawlings and Associates Award for Best Comeback – Ben Crowder directing Sit on it again

The South Pacific Pictures Award for Best Technical F*#k up – Declan Greene’s note before Eight-Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography 

The Actors Program Award for Best Nudity – Edwin Beats in Not Psycho

The Sharu Loves Hats Award for Best Pash – Eli Kent and the mannequin in All Your Wants and Needs Fulfilled Forever

The Pantograph Punch Award for Best Critic – James Wenley

The Tour-Makers Award for Travelling Hero – A Boy Wonder

*NEWCOMER BIOS: 

Christine Urquhart – Set and Costume Designer

Christine Urquhart is a formally trained stage designer (RWCMD) and fine artist. From the UK originally, she has passed through Europe, Bulgaria and Australia before landing in New Zealand in the last year. She has designed for the English National Opera (UK), Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre and La Mama (AUS), Prayas Theatre Company, Auckland Theatre Company, numerous independent productions at The Basement Theatre and currently Massive Company’s new show The Wholehearted. She is highly influenced by the conceptual white hot focus and play on audience psyche a designer can bring to a theatre making process, and is fascinated by clashing cultural training and performance styles with a contemporary edge and scenographic interplay of space and movement. 

Jordan Keyzer – Stage Manager & Producer

Jordan Keyzer is an Auckland-based stage manager and producer. He has worked in a variety of roles for The Auckland Theatre Company and Silo Theatre across both stage management and production, including working as a Production Intern on Hudson and Halls Live! He has worked as a stage manager in many of Auckland’s major venues, including The Basement and Q Theatre, his recent credits including The Experiment and Treats, and has produced shows at both these venues, recent credits including Tiny Deaths and Stutterpop. His upcoming projects include being a deputy stage manager for Beauty and The Beast at the Aotea Centre and producing b425 award-winning Hippolytus Veiled next year. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Auckland University. 

Gaby Solomona – Actor

Gaby Solomona is a recent 2014 graduate of PIPA. She started off 2015 working as stage manager for Victor Rodgers Girl on a corner where she then went on to become co-producer for Victors next play Club Paradiso which made it’s debut in July this year at The Basement Theatre to a sellout season. She has been an actor in 3 play readings for FCC also formed by Victor Rodger. Gaby was also part of the working tittles project for Silo Theatre as an actor for Courtney Meredith’s Rushing Dolls directed by Rachel House.

She recently made her theatre debut with Auckland Theatre Company for My Own darling written by Grace Taylor directed by Mia Blake. Gaby has recently been cast in her first screen role for director Tusi Tamasese’s new feature film One thousand ropes.