The 2008 Helpmann Awards® nominations (don't you just love the little trademark next to award names), named in honour of Sir Robert Helpmann who is undoubtedly this country's most prolific and well known arts figure, were announced today.
Last year it was a pretty tough year with Hedwig, Keating, the Lost Echo and Honour Bound really taking the cake. This year's batch however is a bit on the uninspiring side, mainly due to a weaker year for the professional theatre industry - in Sydney especially.
The big story of course is that Billy Elliot has eleven nominations. The not so real big story is The Hatpin got snubbed. What a surprise.
In the theatre category, best direction of a play has drawn up Benedict Andrews' Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Neil Armfield's Toy Symphony, Barrie Kosky's The Tell-Tale Heart and John Tiffany's Black Watch.
Not bad, but a little ho-hum.
Why isn't Aalst in there? It was the most astonishing production of the Sydney Festival that was the ants pants on all of the above. In fact Aalst only has one nomination, Kate Dickie for best female actor.
Peter Brooks' Sizwe Banze is Dead is also mysteriously missing. (Now, that's a snub!)
An Audience With Stephen Sondheim is nominated as one of the best 'special events', which would have been alright if the compere, Jonathan Biggins, hadn't relied on Wikipedia for his research. I think the ABC's Choir of Hard Knocks might pip the Biggins fiasco at the post.
The best choreography category is probably one of the toughest. Tanja Liedtke's Construct is in company with DV8's To Be Straight With You, Chunky Moves' Glow and The Australian Ballet's After the Rain© (another copyright symbol??).
So to is the Best Visual or Physical Theatre Production award which places James Thieree's Au Revoir Parapluie, Chunky Moves' Mortal Engine, Cirque Ici's Secret and Branch Nebula's Paradise City.
Considering that I absolutely loathed Secret, for me it makes it a tight contest between Au Revoir and Paradise City.
There's heaps of other categories in opera, live concerts and music. So for all the other nominations etc etc check out the full list.
The Helpmanns Registered Trademark Awards Night will be held on 28 July.
Image: Jonathan Biggins
10 comments:
I urge your readers to check out Diana Simmonds' Stage Noise blog on the idiocy, pretension and total lack of logic to the Helpmanns. (Perhaps you could link it, SAJ?) One of the best pieces she has ever written.
Thanks TE.
Here is the link for those who are interested.
http://www.stagenoise.com/newsdisplay.php?id=201
I am not so sure about Diana's article. I think the Sydney Theatre Awards is a great low-key affair but I wouldn't feel safe standing on top of a pedestal because it has some pretty basic problems as well.
Diana says that she is "proudly a part" of the Sydney Theatre Awards. In a word she runs the thing along with Ian Phipps from the ABC.
Diana complains about the Helpmanns - "the likelihood of the nominating 'judges' having seen all or even nearly all nominees in a category is virtually nil".
Well the likelihood of he nominating 'judges' at the Sydney Theatre Awards having seen all or even nearly all nominees in category is virtually nil as well.
Can she seriously suggest that Gary Smith, Bryce Hallett, Stephen Dunne and herself attend all the time?
Jason Blake sees probably the most of the lot of them followed very closely by Ian Phipps.
In fact your timid SAJ blogger easily sees more than most of the judges.
This is particularly obvious in contemporary performance, physical theatre and dance. Just go on Diana's website and see how many she has reviewed in the past twelve months.
Some of the categories only have one nominee (kids theatre) and some nominees have only had one judge turn up.
But as she says - "it does come back to who makes the judgements, however, and on what basis".
Awards are bunk anyway don't you reckon?
To me her most valid point is that trying to throw festival events in with local productions is never going to work. As you point out, ignoring Peter Brook's Fugard piece seems ludicrous, but only because the category is impossible to satisfy. At least the once absurd bias towards Melbourne productions seems to be easing.
On the other hand, of course, I quite like the fact that the beautiful Au Revoir Parapluie is up against the equally professional and brilliant local productions of Paradise City and Mortal Engine.
And to be honest, I really see no problem setting them together in the one category due to all of their high standards.
I know for instance that Paradise City has had an extremely successful tour both internationally and domestically.
I suppose it all comes down to quality and within the physical theatre world, Australia is on par with international best practice ... something that isn't so apparent in the text based theatre industry.
i agree - awards are bunk. good summary.
Awards Festivals are bloody aweful.
hear hear!!! As are scores out for ten on arts reveiws. Kit
Don't you have to pay to get in The Bobbies? Do I have that right?
If so, perhaps that [and the maddeningly small audiences that attended] explain the absurd omission of Peter Brook's magnificent production.
$149 for the ceremony and party.
Maybe that's why it is a registered trademark.
I'll give you this, the Sydney Theatre Awards are much more civilised, hanging out at the Paddington RSL. $3 a schooner.
The "Paddington RSL"? Glamour!
"Absurd cultural bias towards Melbourne"?? Not that I'm a close follower of such awards (yes, awards are bunk) but any such absurdity must have passed me by... there was a rich smattering of Company B and STC, as I recall, sweeping most of the awards...
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