The Ngā Whakarākei O Whātaitai / Wellington Theatre Awards are the main theatre awards in New Zealand's capital city,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

established in 2015 after the previous awards sponsor ended their support. They are awarded annually. The previous awards were called the

Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards The Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards were the main theatre awards in New Zealand's capital city, Wellington, from 1992–2014, and have been succeeded by the Wellington Theatre Awards. Established in 1992 and sponsored by law firm Chapman Tripp, ...

, established in 1992 and sponsored by law firm

Chapman Tripp Chapman Tripp is New Zealand's largest commercial law firm. It is considered one of the "big three" law firms along with Russell McVeagh and Bell Gully. Established in New Zealand in 1875, it now has around 60 partners and roughly 200 legal staff ...

2022 awards

Presented at a ceremony at the

Hannah Playhouse The Hannah Playhouse is a theatre venue situated on the corner of Courtenay Place and Cambridge Terrace in central Wellington, New Zealand. The Hannah Playhouse was given by Sheilah Winn (first cousin of Edith Campion, mother of Jane Campion) an ...

on Sunday 11th December 2022. Funded by

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

BATS Theatre BATS Theatre is a theatre venue in Wellington, New Zealand. Initially founded as the Bats Theatre Company in 1976, then established in its current form in 1989. BATS Theatre has seen the development of many performing arts talents of New Zeala ...

, Taki Rua Productions,

Circa Theatre Circa Theatre is a professional theatre company in Wellington, New Zealand, that was established in 1976. They present a number of plays each year in their two auditoriums, and have a unique partnership and funding model with incoming shows unde ...

and

Playmarket Playmarket is a not-for-profit organisation providing script advisory services, representation for playwrights in New Zealand and access to New Zealand plays. Playmarket was founded in 1973 to encourage the professional production of New Zealand p ...

2020 awards

Because of the massive disruption and closure to performing arts in 2020 caused by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

the awards took a different approach with awards categories being: * Theatre Angels - people who've really helped out individuals and collectives, especially over lockdown and have been the spirit of the industry * Community Award Winners - with the following headings: Twenty Twenty Best Entrance, The Genuine Good Guy Award, Te Auaha Best Lockdown Mentor Award, The # Pivot to Digital Award * Ghost Light Award Winners - to acknowledge those who used their skills to not just tend to our garden, but grow it, weed it, help us not just get through a difficult time, but used their skills and platform, as an opportunity to shed light on practises and customs no longer working for us, as practitioners, and as people. In addition in 2020 there was the usual Mayoral Significant Contribution to Theatre which went to

Carolyn Henwood Dame Carolyn Henwood (née Griffiths; born 19 September 1946) is a former District and Youth Court judge in New Zealand, and an advocate for youth justice and the welfare of children in state care. She is active in the arts, particularly theatr ...

2019 awards

The 2019 awards ceremony was held on Sunday 8 December at Shed 6 on the Wellington waterfront. Stella Reid was MC.

2018 awards

The 2018 awards ceremony was held at Te Papa on Sunday 9 December, MCed by Jo Randerson. The event had a theme honouring 125 years of women's suffrage.

2017 awards

The 2017 awards ceremony was held on Sunday 10 December at

St James Theatre St. James Theatre is a Broadway theatre in New York City. St. James Theatre may also refer to: Australia * St. James Theatre, Sydney, multi-storey building in Elizabeth Street, not to be confused with diminutive St James' Hall, Sydney New Zeala ...

, Wellington, and MCed for a third year by James Nokise. The Mayoral Award was presented by Justin Lester.

2016 awards

The 2016 awards ceremony was held on Sunday 11 December at

Te Whaea Te Whaea in Wellington, New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. ...

, hosted by James Nokise.

2015 awards

The 2015 awards ceremony was held on Sunday 6 December at Circa Theatre, hosted by James Nokise. The biggest winner was ''All Our Sons'' by

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in literat ...

, produced by Taki Rua Productions and

. There were 21 categories of award, awarded as follows: {, class="wikitable" , + !Award !Winner !Notes , - , Mayor's Award for Significant Contribution to Theatre , The Critics , "Especially noted was Laurie Atkinson (Evening Post / Dominion Post) for his 35 years service as a Wellington Theatre Reviewer" , - , Most Promising Male Newcomer , Andrew Paterson – ''

The Angry Brigade The Angry Brigade was a far-left British terrorist group responsible for a series of bomb attacks in England between 1970 and 1972. Using small bombs, they targeted banks, embassies, a BBC Outside Broadcast vehicle, and the homes of Conservativ ...

'' , , - , Most Promising Female Newcomer , Carrie Green – ''Conversations With My Penis'' , , - , The George Webby Most Promising New Director ,

Miriama McDowell Miriama McDowell is a New Zealand actor, director and playwright. She is a graduate of Toi Whakaari. McDowell has a long association with Massive Theatre Company in Auckland, and has both acted and directed for the Pop-up Globe, including direc ...

– ''Nga Pou Wahine'' , , - , The Peter Harcourt Outstanding New Playwright , Helen Vivienne Fletcher – ''How To Catch A Grim Reaper'' , , - , The Paul Jenden Costume Designer of the Year , Ian Harman - ''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' , , - , Lighting Designer of the Year , Jen Lal – ''All Our Sons'' , , - , Set Designer of the Year , Ian Harman – ''Ache'' , , - , Sound Designer of the Year , Maaka McGregor – ''All Our Sons'' , , - , Most Original Production , ''All Our Sons'' – Taki Rua Productions / Circa Theatre , , - , The Constance Scott Kircaldie Outstanding Composer of Music , Phil Jones – ''The Kitchen at the End of the World'' , , - , Absolutely Positively Outstanding New New Zealand Play , ''Not in our Neighbourhood'' – Jamie McCaskill / Tikapa Productions , , - , Supporting Actor of the Year , Jamie McCaskill – ''Seed'' , , - , Supporting Actress of the Year , Brianne Kerr – ''Richard III'' , , - , The Richard Campion Accolade for Outstanding Performance , Renee Lyons – ''Ache'' , , - , The Dorothy McKegg Actress of the Year , Kali Kopae – ''Not In Our Neighbourhood'' , , - , The

Grant Tilly Grant Leonard Ridgway Tilly (12 December 1937 – 10 April 2012) was a New Zealand stage, movie and television actor, set designer, teacher and artist. Life and career Grant Tilly was educated in Wellington, taking art at Wellington Tech ...

Actor of the Year ,

Rob Mokaraka Rob Mokaraka is a New Zealand playwright and actor. He affiliates to Nga Puhi and Ngai Tuhoe. He has been part of the performing group The Māori Sidesteps. In 2006 he played Taneatua in the Taki Rua production of Hone Kouka's '' Nga Tanga ...

– ''All Our Sons'' , , - , Director of the Year ,

Nathaniel Lees Nathaniel Lees is a New Zealand theatre actor and director and film actor of Samoan descent, best known for film roles in ''The Matrix Reloaded'', ''The Matrix Revolutions'' and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' and for starring in ''You ...

– ''All Our Sons'' , , - , Production of the Year , ''All Our Sons'' – Taki Rua Productions / Circa Theatre , , - , Critics’ Wildcard , Tawata Productions , "for their tireless and inspired work creating Matariki Festival" , - , Outstanding Contribution to the Wellington Theatre , Timothy Gordon , "for his advocacy and leadership of the Theatre Awards" , - , Outstanding Contribution to Wellington Theatre , Neil Gray, of Chapman Tripp , "for his patronage and support of the Theatre Awards"

References

New Zealand awards Theatre in New Zealand New Zealand theatre awards