The best on stage in 2022

The annual Sydney Theatre Awards were presented at the Seymour Centre last Monday night in a glitzy event attended by the who’s who of the industry. The awards acknowledged outstanding talent and achievement in theatre, recognising those in front of, beside, behind, below, above and tugging the ropes of the curtains. 

Thirty gongs were given out for performances, production, writing, composing, directing and more. 

Best Mainstage Production was awarded to Belvoir’s The Jungle and the Sea, which also won Best New Australian Work (S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack), Best Ensemble and Best Original Score of a Mainstage Production (Arjunan Puveendran). 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 (Lucy Clements).

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 a Mainstage Production went to Heather Mitchell (RBG: Of Many, One). Best Performer in a Leading Role in an Independent Production was awarded to Jane Phegan (The End of Winter).

Best Musical was presented to Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Global Creatures) and Best Direction of a Musical to Cameron Mitchell (Nice Work If You Can Get It). 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. 

Esteemed photographer and performance artist, William Yang, and highly respected executive producer, John “Robbo” Robertson were both honoured with Sydney Theatre Awards for Lifetime Achievement.  

For a full list of nominees and winners of the Sydney Theatre Awards 2022 visit: sydneytheatreawards.com/history/2022