And the winner is ....
I, George Nepia, Hone Kouka’s play about the rugby legend, was named production of the year, and also took two directing awards for newcomer Jason Te Kare and actor of the year for Jarod Rawiri.
Phil Grieve’s portrayal of former Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon in Slouching Towards Bethlehem earned the actor the outstanding performance of the year award while the Dean Parker play won the outstanding new play of the year.
Other big winners included Here to See which saw the Capital E National Theatre for Children take out the award for the most original production, and Richard Nunn the award for outstanding composer of music, and Circa Theatre’s production of August: Osage County for which Lauren Gibson won most promising female newcomer, Jennifer Ludlam actress of the year and Michelle Amas for outstanding performance.
Actor and director Jim Moriarty was presented the Mayor’s award for significant contribution to theatre by Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown. The award recognised not only Moriarty’s 40 year career in theatre and film, but also his commitment to training his Te Rakau boys, a performing arts organisation working with at-risk communities to create and perform theatre in schools, marae and prisons.
The awards, in their 20th year, reaffirmed Circa and Bats Theatres as the Capital’s leading performance houses. However, for Downstage Theatre, the night hardly glittered. Few Downstage productions were selected and only two (Mates and Lovers - most promising male newcomer for Simon Leary - and The Spy Who Wouldn’t Die Again - costume designer of the year for Gillie Coxill) received awards. This on the back of a year of falling houses which saw the theatre bailed out of serious financial difficulties last month.
The Chapman Tripp awards are selected by a panel of theatre critics (including Lynn Freeman, theatre reviewer for Capital Times), who whittled down their nominations from the more than one hundred professional theatre productions staged in Wellington throughout the year.
I, George Nepia opens for a second season at Circa on December 8.










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