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From Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Mary Poppins: Sydney Theatre Awards winners
By Helen Pitt
Actor Heather Mitchell has won the Sydney Theatre Awards’ best performer in a leading role in a mainstream production for her performance as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the Sydney Theatre Company’s one woman show, RBG: Of Many, One.
During a ceremony on Monday night at the Seymour Centre’s York Theatre, 18 productions which played on Sydney stages during 2022 shared the 30 awards, which have been presented annually since 2005.
Heather Mitchell as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.Credit: Prudence Upton
Belvoir’s The Jungle and the Sea scooped four awards including best mainstage production, best new Australian work, best ensemble and best original score of a mainstage production.
Written and directed by S Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack (the team behind 2019’s Counting and Cracking), the play lifts the half-healed scab on the Sri Lankan civil war and pays tribute to those lost in it.
Judged by the city’s leading critics, best independent production went to Albion from Secret House, New Ghosts Theatre Company and Seymour Centre, which also took home best direction of an independent production for Lucy Clements.
The Jungle and the Sea pays tribute to those lost in the Sri Lankan civil war.Credit: Belvoir
Best direction of a mainstage production was presented to Kip Williams for Sydney Theatre Company’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, while best performer in a leading role in an independent production was awarded to Jane Phegan for The End of Winter.
Best musical was presented to Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Global Creatures) and best direction of a musical to Cameron Mitchell for Nice Work If You Can Get It at Hayes Theatre.
The Judith Johnson Award for best performance in a leading role in a musical went to Stefanie Jones (Mary Poppins), and best performance in a supporting role in a musical went to Simon Burke (Moulin Rouge! The Musical). Masego Pitso (Chewing Gum Dreams) took home best newcomer.
Two Sydney Theatre Awards for lifetime achievement were presented, one to legendary photographer and performance artist William Yang, and the other to beloved executive producer John “Robbo” Robertson.
Yang, 80, combined his skills as a writer and photographer in 1989 when he began to perform monologues with slide projection as theatre shows, creating seven full-length performance pieces, including Shadows, Blood links and Objects For Meditation.
William Yang, who has been awarded a Sydney Theatre lifetime achievement award.Credit: William Yang
His third show, Sadness, which wove together two themes, the discovery of his Chinese heritage and the rituals of dying and death in Sydney, toured successfully nationally and internationally.
In 1956, John Robertson left a career in accountancy to join the theatre, and has since worked as a stage manager, production manager, stage director and executive producer.
As Operations Manager for Adelaide Festival Centre Trust, he worked on touring productions of Evita, Annie, Barnum and Oklahoma amongst others.
“Robbo”, as he was known, then joined Cameron Mackintosh’s Australian company and was executive producer for the original Australian productions of Cats, Les Misérables, Five Guys Named Moe, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Rent. He has since lent his expertise as a consultant to many tours throughout Australia and Asia.
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