22/01/2026
2025 SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS WINNERS ANNOUNCED
19 January 2026
The winners of the 2025 Sydney Theatre Awards were announced tonight at a star-studded ceremony. Twenty nine Awards were presented, shared between 19 productions which played on Sydney stages during 2025. Almost 500 members of the Sydney theatre community gathered at the York Theatre, Seymour Centre to celebrate.
Best Mainstage Production was awarded to Grief is the Thing with Feathers, produced by Belvoir St Theatre and Andrew Henry Presents, which also took home Best New Australian Work, Best Stage Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design and Composition. Best Independent Production went to Sistren from Green Door Theatre Company in association with Griffin Theatre Company, which was also awarded Best Direction of an Independent Production (Ian Michael). Damien Ryan was awarded Best Direction of a Mainstage Production for his work on The Player Kings for Sport For Jove Theatre. Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Mainstage Production went to Kat Stewart (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), and Best Performance in a Leading Role in an Independent Production was awarded to Fraser Morrison (Cruise).
Best Musical was presented to Phar Lap: The Electro-Swing Musical (Hayes Theatre Co), the director of which, Sheridan Harbridge, was awarded Best Direction of a Musical, while the lead actor, Joel Granger, took home Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Musical.
The Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented to Elizabeth Butcher AM. Butcher was General Manager of NIDA for almost 40 years, and alongside director John Clarke, she helped forge the school into a world-renowned training ground. In 1979 she established the Sydney Theatre Company, then found the abandoned wharf in Walsh Bay and convinced the NSW Government to restore it and the Hickson Road precinct as a home for the STC. Butcher has held positions on the NSW Government Cultural Grants Advisory Council, the Council of the University of NSW, the Australia Council (Chairman of the Theatre Board 1981-1985), the Board of Management of the Seymour Centre (1984-1989), the Sydney Opera House Trust (Chairman 1989-1995), Playing Australia (Deputy Chairman 1992-1993), and the University of Technology Arts Management Course Advisory Committee (Chairperson 1990-1998).
Presenters at the Awards ceremony, which was hosted by Marney McQueen, included Tel Benjamin, Andrew Bevis, Tina Bursill, Brendan de la Hay, Eva Di Cesare, Sue Donnelly, Neil Gooding, Joanne Kee, Radhika Mudaliyar, Caroline O'Connor, Simone Sault, Phil Scott, Ian Stenlake and Hayden Tonazzi. The ceremony opened with a performance of For The Gaze by host Marney McQueen, and featured a performance by Alec Steedman of Write My Story from his new Australian musical, Silver Tongue. Another performance highlight was a celebration of musicals which starred the late Toni Lamond, the Sydney Theatre Awards Lifetime Achievement winner in 2008, performed by Danielle Barnes, Zoe Gertz, Donna Lee, Caroline O’Connor and Geraldine Turner.
This year, for the first time, Sydney Theatre Award winners received a trophy designed by Brian Thomson, rather than the traditional framed certificate. The Sydney Harbour Bridge-like trophy has been affectionately nicknamed the “Syd”.
The Sydney Theatre Awards are presented annually to celebrate the strength, quality and diversity of theatre in Sydney. The Sydney Theatre Awards gratefully thanks major sponsor The Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation, as well as other sponsors: the William Fletcher Foundation, Showcast, Currency Press, Ticketmaster Australia, Actors Benevolent Fund, JPJ Audio, Lisa Loxley Design, Freeflow Projects, HereWeAre and the Seymour Centre.
📸 David Hooley Photography
