Guidelines and Judging Panels
The guidelines for eligibility for awards are simple:
Awards are given annually for new productions which have opened on Sydney stages in the calendar year of voting.
Only Australian performers and creatives are eligible. International performers and creatives are ineligible, even if they are working on Australian produced shows.
Productions are eligible only in the year they commence in Sydney - remounts of the same show are ineligible, although replacement cast are eligible.
The judging panels for the 2023 Sydney Theatre Awards are:
MAINSTAGE THEATRE PANEL
David Berthold (Director), Jade Kops (BroadwayWorld), Robert Love (Arts Administrator), John McCallum (The Australian), Kenneth Moraleda (Actor/Director), Joyce Morgan (Sydney Morning Herald), John Shand (Sydney Morning Herald), Cassie Tongue (The Guardian/ Sydney Morning Herald), Suzy Wrong (Suzy Goes See)
INDEPENDENT THEATRE PANEL
Jason Blake (Limelight), Leila Enright (Griffin), Kerri Glassock (Sydney Fringe), Joanne Kee (National Theatre of Parramatta), Vaanie Krishnan (Theatre Enthusiast), Kenneth Moraleda (Actor/Director), Sarah Odillo Maher (Ensemble), Kate Prendergast (Freelance Reviewer), Keerthi Subramanyam (Designer), Catherine Swallow (Riverside)
MUSICALS AND CABARET PANEL
Harriet Cunningham (Sydney Morning Herald), Emily David (Belvoir), Mark Humphries (ABC TV), Deborah Jones (The Australian), Jade Kops (BroadwayWorld), Jo Litson (Limelight), Alannah Maher (Time Out Sydney), John Shand (Sydney Morning Herald), Cassie Tongue (The Guardian/ Sydney Morning Herald), Suzy Wrong (Suzy Goes See)
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S PANEL
Elissa Blake (Young People’s Theatre only), Amy Matthews (Riverside), Joshua Maxwell (Jopuka Productions), Danielle O’Keefe (The House that Dan Built), Ian Phipps (Publicist), Jordan Shea (playwright/teacher), Simone Whetton (ABC Radio)
Other special awards will be decided by the core group of critics.
The Sydney Theatre Awards is an entirely voluntary organisation, including the Critics Panel and Panel members to Awards producer, presenters and performers. All give their time because they believe that acknowledging the work of peers not only recognises their outstanding achievements, but contributes the strength, quality and diversity of the Sydney theatre community.