Our History

Alison Cotes and Sue Gough, who started the Matilda Awards, felt there should be some form of recognition that celebrates and promotes the excellence of southeast Queensland’s theatre industry.

THE BEGINNING

The Matilda Awards were founded in 1987 by theatre critics Alison Cotes and Sue Gough, to celebrate and promote the excellence of Queensland’s theatre industry.  Few theatre reviewers from Sydney and Melbourne travelled to Brisbane to see local productions so Queensland performers were rarely mentioned or included in national awards.  Sue and Alison were then successful in gaining project funding from Arts Queensland and gathered a panel of fellow theatre critics to join with them in recommending recipients for the Awards.

The first Awards took the form of a certificate and a monetary reward for each of the five recipients. Inconsistent funding meant that subsequent awards received less money and eventually became certificates only.

These early years saw the Awards events as relatively informal affairs with gatherings taking place in a variety of spaces including QPAC foyers.

MILESTONES

• In 1988 the first Matilda Awards were presented to five leading Queensland theatre artists.

• In the following years, five Matilda Awards continued to be awarded, with the addition of Matilda commendations. These later became known as Gold and Silver Awards. Occasionally, other special awards and commendations were made.

• In 2004 ‘Best’ categories were introduced for Silver Awards.

• From 2011-2016 the Matilda Awards were presented at the Gardens Theatre, QUT Gardens Point.

• In 2012, the awards debuted a signature design for its statuettes, presenting gold trophies for the five major Matilda Awards. Ten silver trophies were also introduced for the category commendations recognising the best achievements in both mainstage and independent theatre.

• In 2016 an Executive Committee was appointed separate to the Judging Panel, to oversee the ongoing development, growth and governance of the Matilda Awards. This was a significant step in the professionalisation of the organisation and the annual awards event.

• In 2017, the Matilda Awards were formally registered as an Incorporated organisation with a fully developed constitution.

• With increased presence and professionalised management standards, The Matilda Awards received annual funding support from Arts Queensland and Brisbane City Council.

• In 2018 there was a major refresh of the Judging Panel with the appointment of a Lead Judge to oversee the activity of the 11-person strong judging panel, expanding the diversity and industry experience of the membership.

• By this stage the Matilda Awards had expanded to offering 18 awards, including Best Video Design, Creative Industries Backstage Award, Best Circus and Physical Theatre Work, Best New Australian Work, and the Gold Matilda Award which honours an individual, organisation or creative team for an outstanding contribution to theatre in Queensland.

• The 2017 Awards event (held in Feb 2018 at Brisbane Powerhouse) was considered the strongest in the history of the awards.  Attendance grew to over 500 industry members and interested parties.   The positive feedback delivered to judges and executive members following the ceremony left no one in doubt as to the importance the theatre community placed on the Matilda Awards.

• The 2020 Awards could not proceed at the scheduled time (February 2021) due to COVID19 restrictions and the lower number of shows presented in 2020.

• In March 2022, a combined-year event, celebrating shows presented in both 2020 and 2021, was held at the Brisbane Powerhouse.

• Following comprehensive stakeholder consultation, and in the interests of diversity and inclusion, the Matilda Awards Executive committee announced that from 2022, gender assignation would be removed from the Best Male and Female Actor awards, and replaced by Best Actor (and Best Supporting actor) awards.  
  
  To ensure there was no reduction in the number of actor awards, from 2022, these awards will be presented in two categories – Best Actor (and Supporting Actor) in a mainstage production, and Best Actor (and Supporting Actor) in an independent production.

• A major factor in the growth of awareness of the Matilda Awards is the presentation of the annual awards at the Brisbane Powerhouse, Queensland’s preeminent venue for contemporary performance. The event has been held at BPH since 2018 and in 2022, the BPH committed to hosting the awards for a further three years: 2023 – 2025.

Over the life of the Awards, artists of national and international acclaim feature among past winners including:

Robert Arthur, John Batchelor, Bille Brown, David Brown, Andrew Buchanan, Carol Burns, Emily Burton, Greg Clarke, Paul Dellit, Wesley Enoch, Daniel Evans, Jennifer Flowers, , Eugene Gilfedder, Jason Glenwright, Michael Gow, Bill Haycock, Russell Kiefel, John Kotzas, Brenna Lee-Cooney, Sally McKenzie, Andrea Moor, Bryan Nason, Robyn Nevin, Anthony Phelan, Leah Purcell, Sue Rider, Sanja Simić , Hayden Spencer, Sven Swenson, Jim Vilé , Rosemary Walker, David Walters.