Helpmann Award for Best Play

Helpmann Award for
Best Play
Awarded forBest Play
LocationAustralia
Presented byLive Performance Australia
Currently held byCounting & Cracking (2019)
WebsiteHelpmannAwards.com.au

The Helpmann Award for Best Play is a theatre award, presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA) at the annual Helpmann Awards since 2001.[1] The award is for a production of a play, which may be a new work or a revival of an existing work. This is a list of winners and nominations for the Helpmann Award for Best Play.

Winners and nominees

   Winners are listed first and marked in a separate colour.

2000s

Year Title Production compan(y/ies)
2001
(1st)
Life After George Melbourne Theatre Company
'Art' Melbourne Theatre Company
Jimmy and Pat Meet the Queen Deckchair Theatre
The Small Poppies Company B Belvoir
2002
(2nd)
Cloudstreet Company B Belvoir and Black Swan Theatre
Master Class International Concert Attractions
The Tempest Melbourne Theatre Company
Three Sisters Sydney Theatre Company
2003
(3rd)
Copenhagen Sydney Theatre Company
Soft Back to Back and Melbourne Festival
The Comedy of Errors The Bell Shakespeare Company
Waiting for Godot Company B Belvoir and Sydney Festival
2004
(4th)
Inheritance Melbourne Theatre Company
Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America - A Drama in 30 Scenes Playbox Theatre
The Servant of Two Masters The Bell Shakespeare Company
Frozen Melbourne Theatre Company
2005
(5th)
The Sapphires Melbourne Theatre Company
Twelve Angry Men Arts Projects Australia and Adrian Bohm
Hedda Gabler Sydney Theatre Company
Three Furies Sydney Festival
2006
(6th)
Stuff Happens Company B Belvoir and Newtheatricals
Away Queensland Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre Company
The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? State Theatre Company of South Australia
Le Dernier Caravansérail Melbourne International Arts Festival and Théâtre du Soleil
2007
(7th)
The Lost Echo Sydney Theatre Company
Holding the Man Griffin Theatre Company
Parramatta Girls Company B Belvoir
The Season At Sarsaparilla Sydney Theatre Company
2008
(8th)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Company B Belvoir
Black Watch National Theatre of Scotland, Sydney Festival and Perth International Arts Festival
When The Rain Stops Falling Brink Productions
Toy Symphony Company B Belvoir
2009
(9th)
War of the Roses Sydney Theatre Company
Women of Troy Sydney Theatre Company
Ivanov Katona Jozsef Theatre and Sydney Festival
Gatz Sydney Opera House and Brisbane Powerhouse

2010s

Year Title Production compan(y/ies)
2010
(10th)
Richard III Melbourne Theatre Company
August: Osage County Melbourne Theatre Company
Happy Days Malthouse Theatre
The Book of Everything Company B Belvoir and Kim Carpenter's Theatre of Image
2011
(11th)
The Wild Duck Belvoir
The Diary of a Madman Belvoir
Uncle Vanya Sydney Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare
Do not go gentle fortyfivedownstairs
2012
(12th)
Ganesh Versus the Third Reich Back to Back Theatre, Malthouse Theatre and Melbourne Festival
Neighbourhood Watch Belvoir
The Boys Griffin Theatre Company and Sydney Festival
The Importance of Being Earnest Melbourne Theatre Company
2013
(13th)
The Secret River Sydney Theatre Company, The Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals, Sydney Festival, The Centenary of Canberra, Perth International Arts Festival
Medea Belvoir and Australian Theatre for Young People
Death of a Salesman Belvoir
Hedda Gabler State Theatre Company of South Australia
2014
(14th)
Angels in America Belvoir
Roman Tragedies Toneelgroep Amsterdam presented by Adelaide Festival in association with Adelaide Festival Centre
The Shadow King Malthouse Theatre in association with the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals (Adelaide Festival, Brisbane Festival, Melbourne Festival, Perth International Arts Festival and Sydney Festival)
Waiting for Godot Sydney Theatre Company
2015
(15th)
The Glass Menagerie Belvoir
Calpurnia Descending Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company
Suddenly Last Summer Sydney Theatre Company
Endgame Sydney Theatre Company
2016
(16th)
The Bleeding Tree Griffin Theatre Company
North by Northwest Melbourne Theatre Company and Kay + McLean Productions by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures
Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster Performing Lines and Nicola Gunn
Prize Fighter La Boite Theatre Company and Brisbane Festival
2017
(17th)
The Drover's Wife Belvoir
Jasper Jones Melbourne Theatre Company
Once in Royal David's City Queensland Theatre and Black Swan State Theatre Company
Things I Know To Be True State Theatre Company of South Australia and Frantic Assembly
2018
(18th)
The Children Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company
The Irresistible Side Pony Productions and The Last Great Hunt
The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man Malthouse Theatre
Black is the New White Sydney Theatre Company
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Sydney Theatre Company
Laser Beak Man Brisbane Festival, La Boite Theatre Company and Dead Puppet Society in association with PowerArts
2019
(19th)[4][5]
Counting and Cracking Belvoir and Co-Curious
Blackie Blackie Brown: The Traditional Owner of Death Sydney Theatre Company and Malthouse Theatre
The Harp in the South: Part One and Part Two Sydney Theatre Company
Song for a Weary Throat Rawcus
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Parts One and Two) Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, and Michael Cassel
The Second Woman Nat Randall and Anna Breckon and Performing Lines

See also

References

  1. ^ "About". Helpmann Awards. Live Performance Australia. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Nominees". Helpmann Awards. Live Performance Australia. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Australian Web Archive 2001 Helpmann Awards Nominees". Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA). Australian Web Archive. Archived from the original on 17 July 2003. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  4. ^ "2019 Nominees and Winners | Helpmann Awards". www.helpmannawards.com.au. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  5. ^ "2019 Helpmann Awards Act II presented". Limelight. Retrieved 16 July 2019.