All the winners at the 2016 Sydney Theatre Awards

Brent Hill in Little Shop of Horrors, Melbourne 2016. Image by Belinda Strodder

At an upbeat and star-studded ceremony tonight at Sydney’s Seymour Centre, the winners of the 2016 Sydney Theatre Awards were announced – and we’ve got the full list rounded up and ready to go!

35 awards were presented this year and over 450 members of the Sydney theatre community were there to cheer on friends, colleagues, and the best of the industry.

Esther Hannaford in Little Shop of Horrors, Melbourne 2016. Image by Belinda Strodder

Presenters at the Awards ceremony included Damien Bermingham, Adam Cook, Mel Dyer, Danielle Ironside, Madeleine Jones, Angharad Lindley, Luke McGettigan, Pacharo Mzembe, Tyran Parke, Anthony Phelan, Rebecca Poulter, Ellen Simpson, Minka Stevens, Ben Wood, Vanessa Wright and Meyne Wyatt; and there were performances from Robyn Archer, Ben Hall and David Campbell, as well as David Whitney and Kurt Phelan with a song and dance ensemble.

The Sydney Theatre Awards are run by a group of leading theatre critics to celebrate the strength, quality and diversity of theatre in Sydney. The Sydney Theatre Reviewers are Elissa Blake (Fairfax), Jason Blake (Fairfax), Dee Jefferson (Time Out), Deborah Jones (The Australian), Jo Litson (Sunday Telegraph/ Limelight), John McCallum (The Australian), Ben Neutze (Daily Review), Diana Simmonds (stagenoise.com), Polly Simons (Daily Telegraph) and our deputy editor Cassie Tongue (AussieTheatre/Time Out/The Guardian).

See the full list of winners below!

BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
The Drover’s Wife (Belvoir)

BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Antigone (Sport for Jove)

BEST DIRECTION OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Leticia Caceres (The Drover’s Wife)

BEST DIRECTION OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Damien Ryan and Terry Karabelas (Antigone)

BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Marta Dusseldorp (Gloria)

BEST MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Colin Friels (Faith Healer)

BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Andrea Demetriades (Antigone)

BEST MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
William Zappa (Antigone)

BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Alison Whyte (Faith Healer)

BEST MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Pip Miller (Faith Healer)

BEST FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Meredith Penman (The Whale)

BEST MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Thomas Campbell (Three Sisters)

BEST STAGE DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Owen Phillips (Little Shop of Horrors)

BEST STAGE DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Melanie Liertz (Antigone)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Tim Chappel (Little Shop of Horrors)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Melanie Liertz (Antigone)

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Matt Cox (Lake Disappointment)

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Matt Cox (Antigone)

BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN OF A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
The Sweats (The Drover’s Wife)

BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN OF AN INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Nate Edmonson (Good With Maps)

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
Leah Purcell (The Drover’s Wife)

BEST NEWCOMER
Jonny Hawkins (Relatively Speaking)

BEST ENSEMBLE
Broken (Darlinghurst Theatre Company)

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Little Shop of Horrors (Luckiest Productions and Tinderbox Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co)

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Dean Bryant (Little Shop of Horrors)

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Esther Hannaford (Little Shop of Horrors)

JUDITH JOHNSON AWARD FOR BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Brent Hill (Little Shop of Horrors)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Laura Murphy (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Scott Johnson (Little Shop of Horrors)

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTION
Lucy Bermingham (Spring Awakening)

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY IN A MUSICAL
Andrew Hallsworth (Little Shop of Horrors)

BEST CABARET PRODUCTION
Working Class Boy: An Evening of Stories and Songs (Jimmy Barnes)

BEST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN
The Peasant Prince (Monkey Baa)

BEST PRODUCTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Spring Awakening (atyp)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Judi Farr

Cassie Tongue

Cassie is a theatre critic and arts writer in Sydney, and was the deputy editor of AussieTheatre. She has written for The Guardian, Time Out Sydney, Daily Review, and BroadwayWorld Australia. She is a voter for the Sydney Theatre Awards.