2009 has finished- no Bull! We survived the teething decade of the new millenium- and her we are at the start of a new year! What a relief! As with every end of the year comes certain things- sunburn, family Christmases, NYE revelling, music festivals and retrospection which sometimes justifies some introspection- so here is my intro/retrospection about theatre in the last year…

Looking back 2009 was busy for me- after 10 years of working full time day jobs I finally threw caution to the wind and left my job at Screen Australia (formerly the AFC) and decided freelancing as a theatre person was really where my heart lies. I helped the development of 9 full length plays through the Develoment hothouse I run at Queen Street Studio- Off The Shelf. I wrote one full length and one short play produced. I started writing on this little site and consequently SparkOnline. I commented alot on the women in theatre debate (and wrote my first article for New Matilda).I produced 15 new short plays for Brand Spanking New. I received my first ever grant (gasp!). I saw 83 shows (excluding 35 new short plays in the space of 3 days- which I admit felt a bit much). I was an assistant director for the first time in 5 years. I attended two playwrighting workshops. I bought my first subscription (to the Sydney Symphony at the Opera House). I played my first public gig (as a musician) for the first time in 8 years… oh yeah, and I turned 30.

2009 was the year of the Ox- which if you follow Chinese astrology symbolizes prosperity through fortitude and hard work… and I must say I felt it was a year of hard work which has really inspired me. Nothing is more inspiring than the bravery of my fellow artists and I feel greatly honoured to have had such an interesting and rewarding 2009- thank you to anyone I have worked with in 2009- I had a blast!

The change of year/decade also signals the announcement of the 2009 Sydney Theatre Award Nominations . At the prompting by my dear colleague and co-hort Mr Waites and a public suggestion hinted at by Mr Pickard I thought I would contribute an overview of the highlights of Sydney’s theatre for 2009… of course I have a few conflicts of interest as I have worked with and reviewed many of the listed below- but you will forgive me (I hope) because the list is going to indicate a collection of excellent work- not a sole “winner.”

I don’t like competitions- it makes artists ugly and ungenerous towards each other. It is a banal and rudimentary attempt at trying to create a hierarchy in what is not ever a level playing field- so I’m not going to rank the shows or artists I am going to focus on the nominations. My take on the nominations is really more to group together some of the highlights of the year in rough categories- including some I’d include as they represent alot of the work I have seen this year.

NOMINATIONS FOR 2009 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS
(If I was asked to nominate and could create my own categories)

BEST MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION
Peter Grimes (Opera Australia)
Happy Days (Company B)
When the Rain Stops Falling (Sydney Theatre Company and Brink Productions)
Poppea (Sydney Opera House)
The Gatz (Sydney Opera House)

BEST INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
CuBByHOuse (MAKEBeLIVE Productions & Tamarama Rock Surfers)
Norm & Ahmed/ Shafana & Aunt Sarrinah (Alex Buzo Company)
References to Salvidor Dali Make Me Hot (Arts Radar & Griffin Independent)
A Woman in Berlin (Tamarama Rock Surfers)

BEST DIRECTION- MAIN STAGE
Chris Drummond (When the Rain Stops Falling)
Marion Potts (Venus and Adonis)
Barrie Kosky (Poppea)
Neil Armfield (Peter Grimes)

BEST DIRECTION- INDEPENDENT
Lee Lewis (Ladybird- B-Sharp)
Stephen Colyer (What a Shock N Shame)
Jo Turner (CuBByHOuse)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE
Julie Forsyth (Happy Days)
Octavia Barron-Martin (What a Shock ‘N’Shame- New Theatre)
Melita Jurisic (Poppea)
Susan Prior (Venus and Adonis- STC)
Michaela Cantwell (When the Rain Stops Falling)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE
Laurence Coy (Shining City- An Inside Job/Griffin Independent Production)
Darren Gilshenan (Elling- STC)
Ian Meadows (Ladybird- B-Sharp)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Kris McQuade (When the Rain Stops Falling)
Kerry Walker (The Man From Mukinupin)
Emma Jones (And at that Moment Everything Changed)
Tracy Mann (Inside Out)
Camilla Ah Kin (Shafana & Aunt Sarrinah)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Nick Curnow (Take Me Out- New Theatre)
Jonathan Prescott (The Ruby Sunrise- Ensemble Theatre)
David Lee Smyth (The Duel- STC)
Craig Menaud (Norm & Ahmed)

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK
CuBByHOuse (Holly Austin and Adriano Capelletta)
When the Rain Stops Falling (Andrew Bovell)
Concussion (Ross Mueller)
Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah: Soft Revolution (Alana Valentine)
Inside Out (Mary Rachel Brown)

BEST SET DESIGN
Anna Tregloan (Venus and Adonis)
Hossein Valamanesh (When the Rain Stops Falling)
Ralph Myers (Peter Grimes)
Alice Babidge (The Mysteries: Genesis)
Michael Zerz (Poppea)

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN
Paul Jackson (Happy Days)
Niklas Pajanti (When the Rain Stops Falling)
Damien Cooper (Peter Grimes)
Nick Schlieper (Poor Boy)
Chris Page (A Midsummers Night Dream)

BEST SCORE OR SOUND DESIGN
Barrie Kosky (Poppea)
Andree Greenwell (Venus & Adonis)
Jeremy Silver (Shining City)
CuBByHOuse (Holly Austin and Adriano Capelletta)

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
Avenue Q

BEST PRODUCTION BY THEATRE FOR UNDER 25s/ EMERGING PRACTITIONERS
Public Bunnies (PACT THEATRE)
Superperfect (SHOPFRONT THEATRE)
Bustown (ATYP)
Julius Caesar (CRY HAVOC)

BEST SHORT PLAY
The Return by Jonathan Gavin (Brand Spanking New- New Theatre)
Escape Pod by Rebecca Clarke (Sydney Ghost Stories-TRS/Stories Like These)
A Man’s Not a Piece of Fruit by Joanna Erksine (Short and Sweet 2009)
Homemade by Vanessa Bates(Brand Spanking New- New Theatre)

BEST PROGRAMME OF SUPPORT FOR AUSTRALIAN PERFORMANCE AND/OR WRITING
Fresh Ink (ATYP)
Artslab (Shopfront Theatre)
NextSTAGE (Sydney Theatre Company)
Vacant Room (PACT)
Parnassus Den (Darlinghurst Theatre)

FAVOURITE WEBSITES FOR CULTURE AND COMMENTARY
www.jameswaites.com
www.joannaerskine.com
www.artsjournalist.blogspot.com
www.kjtheatrereviews.blogspot.com