13th Life! Theatre Awards 2013

The 13th Life! Theatre Awards was held this afternoon at a ceremony at the W Hotel in Sentosa Cove. Glad to see a bumper of crop of new faces in the nominations list and heartiest congratulations to all.

I was particularly happy about Jo Kukathas's Best Actress win for her sublime performance in Occupation and very deserving wins by Seong Hui Xuan (Best Supporting Actress) and Eucien Chia (Best Set Design) who have both been doing wonderful work in the theatre.

Full list of winners and nominees below.

Production of the Year:   Roots (The Finger Players)
- Company (Dream World Productions)
- La Cage Aux Folles (W!LD RICE)
- Lear Dreaming (TheatreWorks)
- Pretty Things (Patricia Toh/The Substation)

Best Director:   Kuo Jian Hong (Lao Jiu: The Musical)
- Liu Xiaoyi (11: Kuo Pao Kun Devised) 
- Ong Keng Sen (Lear Dreaming)
- Samantha Scott-Blackhall (Freud's Last Session) 
- Patricia Toh (Pretty Things)

Best Script:   Oliver Chong (Roots)
- Ong Keng Sen (Goh Lay Kuan & Kuo Pao Kun)
- Ong Keng Sen (National Broadway Company)
- Chong Tze Chien (Rant & Rave)

Best Ensemble:   Lao Jiu: The Musical (The Theatre Practice)
- 11: Kuo Pao Kun Devised (The Theatre Practice)
- National Broadway Company (The Esplanade)
- October (The Necessary Stage)
- Pretty Things (Patricia Toh/ The Substation)

Best Actress:  Jo Kukathas (Occupation)
- Liow Shi Suen (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
- Karen Tan (Goh Lay Kuan & Kuo Pao Kun)

Best Actor:   Matt Grey (Freud's Last Session) and Nelson Chia (A Language of Their Own) 
- Oliver Chong (Roots) 
- Ivan Heng (La Cage Aux Folles)
- Lim Kay Tong (Goh Lay Kuan & Kuo Pao Kun) 
- Adrian Pang (Swimming with Sharks)

Best Supporting Actress:   Seong Hui Xuan (Company) 
- Sharda Harrison (Crossings)
- Petrina Kow (Company) 
- Neo Swee Lin (Romeo & Juliet)
- Rebecca Spykerman (Spring Awakening)

Best Supporting Actor:  Jeffrey Low (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
- Daniel Jenkins (Twelfth Night)
- Adrian Pang (Twelfth Night)
- Erwin Shah Ismail (Romeo & Juliet)
- Sebastian Tan (Hansel & Gretel)

Best Costume Design:  Daniel Boey (Company)
- Frederick Lee (La Cage Aux Folles)
- Koh Wan Ching (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)

Best Set Design:  Eucien Chia (Company)
- Ian Bailie (Swimming with Sharks)
- Eucien Chia (Spring Awakening)
- Wong Chee Wai (Freud's Last Session)

Best Sound Design:  Darren Ng (Freud's Last Session)
- Darren Ng (The Book of Living and Dying)
- Jeffrey Yue, Dharma, Ray Aziz, George Chua and Rizman Putra (The Song of the Brokenhearted Tiger)

Best Lighting Design:  Andy Lim (The Song Of The Brokenhearted Tiger)
- Andy Lim (Pretty Things)
- Lim Woan Wen (The Book of Living and Dying)
- Dorothy Png (Lao Jiu: The Musical)
- Dorothy Png (A Language of Their Own)

A special shout out as well for La Cage Aux Folles, winner of the inaugural Reader's Choice Award, where members of the public had the chance to vote for their favourite production from a shortlist of six. Others on the list were:

- Company (Dream World Productions)
- Lao Jiu: The Musical (The Theatre Practice)
- National Broadway Company (The Esplanade)
- Roots (The Finger Players)
- Spring Awakening (PANGDEMONIUM)