| 2011 National Awards for Stage Management Nomination Form |
| Check back here for a nomination form for the 2011 Awards |
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| Tell me more about these Annual Awards? |
The Awards were first presented in 1988 at the SMA Christmas Party. They were sponsored by Burchill Dickson Scenery.
The Stage now generously sponsors this event - including the prizes - orginal 'Hamlet' cartoons by Harry Venning.
These awards are the annual chance for stage managers to have their skill and talent publically acknowledged and recognised. In 2008 the name of the awards was changed from the SMA Awards to the National Awards for Stage Management to emphasis that these awards are for the whole industry not just those who are members of the SMA.
A new award was also launched in 2008. Called the Golden Headset, this is more of an honour rather than an award and is given in recognition of long standing involvement with stage management and stage managers. Names are inscribed on a specially designed trophy, looked after by the SMA, and individuals receive specially designed medals to commemorate the honour.
For a full report on who was nominated and who won what in 2009, please use the link below:
Nominees and Winners
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| And the 2010 Winners were... |
The winners of the National Awards for Stage Management, sponsored by the Stage, were announced to a packed room on the first day of the ABTT Theatre Show. Many had come simply to hear Richard Pilbrow, legendary stage manager, lighting designer, producer, theatre consultant and author, present the awards, a duty which he discharged masterfully and described as an honour.
A record number of nominations were received this year for what Managing Director of the Stage, Catherine Comerford, described in her opening speech as 'the backstage Oscars'. 54 nominations were received altogether for the Individual and Team Awards. 'Once again,' Comerford said, 'the selection panel had the uneviable task to select the most worthy of the nominees when they all seemed to me to be extremely deserving.'
The Individual Award went to Sarah Lynch, Company Stage Manager for the tiny Druid Theatre, based in Galway, Eire, for co-ordinating the timely delivery of 360 performances of 7 different productions in 30 theatres spread over 5 countries in the last year. 'This level of touring,' commented Garry Hines, Artistic Director of Druid, in supporting the nomination, 'wouldn't have been possible without a remarkable stage manager. That stage manager is Sarah Lynch.' Playwright Enda Walsh called her 'a wonderful collaborator' and 'utterly irreplaceable.'
Her Award presentation became a drama in itself – she'd been lured over to London under pretense of attending a meeting, and the party from Eire arrived slightly late, having been delayed by their flight. As Lynch walked into the room, Richard Pilbrow had already announced her as the winner, the audience had clapped enthusiastically and it was only when, in the ensuing silence, someone asked if Sarah Lynch was present, that she first realised not only that she'd been nominated, but had won, too. Despite still being out of breath from climbing the stairs to the Awards venue, she then managed a graceful acceptance speech, earning her further well-deserved applause.
The Team Award, a particularly challenging decision for the selection panel this year, pitched teams as diverse as the New Vic's in Newcastle-under-Lyme, 'Team Blond', one of the stage management teams from Shakespeare's Globe, and the team from the tour of Pete Townshend's Quadrophenia, a new show. The latter won the award for cheerfully and efficiently managing an ever-changing script and set, under three different directors, on a four month regional tour of weekly dates. The team of Bryan Lawrence, David Nelson, Hazel Price, Jess Banks and Stuart Hillman were nominated by Pete Townshend himself, as well as the Amercian co-producers. General manager Kenny Wax called them 'the bedrock of the production'. |
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