By Mikayla van Loon
A year of outstanding talent and remarkable ticket sales was rewarded at the Lyrebird Awards, seeing Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre Company (LATC) score a haul of awards.
From costumes to lighting, lead roles and supporting roles, LATC won 15 awards from 34 nominations, the most of any company, presented on Saturday 1 February.
Three of the five productions from 2024 garnered awards being Still Alice, Suite Surrender and Clue.
As LATC president but also as director of Still Alice, Alan Burrows said each of the awards was a testament to the work and dedication of all involved in the theatre but for him the recognition for Still Alice was far greater and on a different level.
“It’s a play that was very dear to my heart because my wife has dementia and Angela Glennie’s (Alice) father passed away with dementia in 2019 as well,” he said.
“So it was very, very deep and poignant for us both, and I think that came out in how we managed to do the production, and the fact that we actually had exceptional actors working with her as well, and they were all duly recognised during the show as well.
“I was also particularly pleased that our set designer, David Dare, was recognised and our lighting designer (Craig Pearcey) was also recognised, because they also were integral in portraying the story of the progression of dementia as well too.”
Because of the uniqueness of this play showing in Australia, the subject matter and the personal impact of dementia on his own life, Burrows spoke at the Awards night.
“I hope we actually, in some ways, raised awareness for the community generally, and in the end, we had done justice to people who are actually suffering from this terrible disease as well too. That was important to me,” he said.
“When I first saw it and read it in England a number of years ago, I was just moved by what I thought was just a tremendous piece of theatre that deserved to be done in Australia.
“And nobody else has done it, and I’m not sure anybody will do it, quite frankly, because it’s a difficult play, and you need an exceptional actress to play the part as well too. Of course, we’re lucky with Angela, so I’m not sure anybody will do it again. However, I’m proud to have done it.”
Angela Glennie walked away with the award for best performer in a lead female role in a drama, Phil Lambert best supporting actor in a drama and Audrey-Maeve Barker best supporting actress in a drama.
The most popular performance of the year, selling out the second and third weeks of shows with 2900 tickets sold in total, Clue won best director in Katie-Jane Amey, best lead male performance with Ian Frost, best sound and best lighting in a comedy and a highly commended performance for Sheona Gregg.
Amey said having worked on this adaptation show once before, this time around “we took a few creative risks with set, costumes and lighting that really paid off”.
“It was heaps of fun, and a huge challenge for our team to create 11 different ‘rooms’ on our stage, plus figuring out all the different tricks and gags that have to happen in these rooms,” she said.
“The iconography is really strong and well known too, so we enjoyed playing with new ways to interpret these.”
Describing her directorial style as collaborative, cohesive and audience-focussed, Amey said she loves the entire process from “big blue sky thinking at the start” to refining the smaller details.
“As a director, you can have a clear vision for the show, and plan everything in detail from the start – but since there’s so many different contributions along the way, the end result is always surprising in the most wonderful ways, and I find great joy in that,” she said.
While grateful for this “exciting acknowledgment” of the production, Amey said what matters most and feels more tangible is audience numbers, feedback and cast and crew satisfaction – things Clue all topped the table in.
“We’re really lucky to have a strong bunch of volunteers who work towards excellent theatre, but who also believe in a company with great culture,” she said.
“Getting the right people around you is the most important part – a team of people all experts in their own areas, who set personal agendas aside. Lilydale Athenaeum is a place where people want to come and work and play – there’s a real sense of family and belonging.”
Also collecting numerous nominations, Suite Surrender saw costume designer Maria Smedes awarded, which Burrows said was entirely deserved because at the time she was costuming Clue and Little Women.
“I thought she did an outstanding job. The costumes and a couple of dresses she produced for Fiona in Suite Surrender and for Adrienne George I thought were just magnificent,” he said.
“So she’s a treasure, is our Maria, and we’re very pleased and proud to have her as part of the company.”
James Anderson also collected best performer in a supporting male role in a comedy, adding to the whole casts’ highly commended “for a cohesive ensemble with sustained energy and pacing”.
Lead actress Fiona Carter said Suite Surrender was certainly “lots of energy” but more than that, it was a well written farce about “strong friendship between two people”.
“It started off with a great script. There was so much to work with, and it was consistent all the way through,” she said.
“It built, it built, it built and then it had a lovely twist at the end, and then there was a little bit more. And it was a lovely script to work with, a lovely cast, good director, amazing costumes and a set that we could work with.
“There were doors opening, closing, all of that, all of those items and people in a cupboard. It was witty, it was clever and people were still laughing in the foyer.”
While not everyone one, Carter said it was delightful to see so many nominations of this incredible show and cast.
“So many people in our cast were nominated. Not everybody won, but lots of our cast got nominated, which is such an honor, for their recognition, for their hard work and and and each character was just being true to themselves,” she said.
With “so much talent in Melbourne”, Carter said being able to bring that to audiences in Lilydale, no matter the show, no matter the script.
“I’m so glad that we’ve got these community theatres where it’s quality theatre. We want to make something good that people will enjoy, that will make them think, make them laugh, make them cry, and it’s like you get to live somebody else’s life when you’re watching it and and as an audience, I want to be touched.”
