2019 CITY OF NEWCASTLE DRAMA AWARDS (CONDAS)

THE 2019 City of Newcastle Drama Awards (CONDAs) showed that performers and backstage workers in and around Newcastle are increasingly revealing their talents at a comparatively early age.

Two shows that each won four CONDAs – Playing Face (Bearfoot Productions) and Mamma Mia! (The Very Popular Theatre Company) – had many people in their teens and early 20s in their teams.

Bearfoot Productions is a company that was established by people in that age group, with Cassie Hamilton, who wrote the play and directed it, collecting the awards for Best New Play or Musical Written for a Newcastle Company and Director of a Drama or Comedy. The play’s other trophies were for Best Dramatic Production and Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama or Comedy, Stephanie Priest. The play looked at the way people’s natures can change when they get together for several days.

Mamma Mia!, a musical that showed the interactions of people who attend  the wedding of a girl in her late teens, with 22 ABBA songs used to tell much of the story, won the awards for Best Musical Production, Excellence by a Choreographer – Rachel Wilson, Excellence by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical – Angela McKeown, and Best Ensemble Acting. The judges noted in their citation that it was “A rollicking, infectious, colourful romp that had audiences dancing in the aisles and standing in ovation. A seamless production”.

Fifteen very different shows staged by 11 companies shared the wins. Opera Hunter’s The Pirates of Penzance received three awards, and two musicals which substantially featured young performers - Hunter School of the Performing Arts’ Matilda the Musical and Hunter Drama’s Rock of Ages - each won two CONDAs. Ten shows each received one award.

Images: Cassie Hamilton & Mamma Mia! - Best Ensemble

The Awards

Outstanding Contribution and Achievement in Newcastle Theatre: Graeme Black

Youth Ambassadors: Zoe Shaw and Sam Jenkins

Dramatic Production: Playing Face, Bearfoot Theatre

Musical Production: Mamma Mia!, The Very Popular Theatre Company

Special Theatrical Event: Safari, Circus Avalon

New Play or Musical Written for a Newcastle Company: Playing Face, by Cassie Hamilton (Bearfoot Theatre)

Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama or Comedy: Alan Glover, The Sum of Us (Bearfoot Productions)

Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama or Comedy: Stephanie Priest, Playing Face (Bearfoot Theatre)

Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Tristan Entwistle, The Pirates of Penzance (Opera Hunter)

Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Rachel Davies, Dogfight: The Musical (Newcastle Theatre Company)

Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama or Comedy: Michael Smythe, Endgame (The Very Popular Theatre Company)

Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama or Comedy: Emma Wood, Blithe Spirit (Newcastle Theatre Company)

Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical: Tyran Stig, Disney Beauty and the Beast (Metropolitan Players)

Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical: Angela McKeown, Mamma Mia! (The Very Popular Theatre Company)

Male Actor Under 18: Hugo Hay, Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth (Hunter School of the Performing Arts)

Female Actor Under 18: Anna Davies, Strictly Ballroom (St Philip’s Christian College)

Ensemble Acting: Mamma Mia! (The Very Popular Theatre Company)

Ensemble Acting Under 18: Matilda the Musical (Hunter School of the Performing Arts)

Director (Drama or Comedy): Cassie Hamilton, Playing Face(Bearfoot Theatre)

Director (Musical): Rosie Kennedy, Matilda the Musical (Hunter School of the Performing Arts)

Music Director or Vocal Director: Susan Hart and Christopher Bearman, The Pirates of Penzance (Opera Hunter)

Choreographer: Rachel Wilson, Mamma Mia! (The Very Popular Theatre Company)

Costume Design: Coralie Lewis, The Pirates of Penzance (Opera Hunter)          

Hair, Make-up and Wigs: Lydia Reynolds and Lily Sawyer, Where in the World Is Frank Sparrow? (Hunter School of the Performing Arts)

Set and Props Design: Daniel Stoddart, Rock of Ages (The Very Popular Theatre Company)

Lighting and Audio Visual Design: Jacob Harwood, Rock of Ages (Hunter Drama)

Sound Design: Huw Jones, The Shake-Up (Tantrum Youth Arts/ Branch Nebula/ Newcastle Museum)