DIVERSITY AND THE STRENGTH OF QUEENSLAND’S INDEPENDENT THEATRE SECTOR LAUDED AT THE 2024 MATILDA AWARDS
Flipside Circus enjoyed a silver lining to a turbulent year with the leading youth arts organisation awarded the prestigious Gold Matilda at the 2024 Matilda Awards.
The best and brightest of Queensland’s stellar performing arts industry were recognised for their contributions on and off the stage at a star-studded ceremony at Brisbane Powerhouse on Monday evening (24 February).
Flipside Circus took top honours for its consistent growth since the 1990s and its ingenuity and resilience in continuing to deliver education, training, performance and advocacy following a heartbreaking fire at its purpose-built Brisbane Circus Centre in January 2024. The company moved back into the repaired premises in late 2024.
The evening’s biggest winner was the ambitious and culturally significant Straight From The Strait by Opera Queensland, Yumpla Nerkep Foundation and QPAC in association with Brisbane Festival, which took home four awards from six nominations, including The Judges’ Award for outstanding theatrical endeavour.
Receiving two awards each were 37, a co-production between Queensland Theatre and Melbourne Theatre Company, for Best Mainstage Production and Best Direction for Isaac Drandic, and Scenes from a Yellow Peril by The Reaction Theory & BIPOC ARTS AUSTRALIA which won Best Ensemble and Brisbane Powerhouse Award for Best Independent Production.
Thomas Weatherall, the young talent behind the one-man tour de force Blue, presented by La Boite Theatre, won The Lord Mayor’s Award for Best New Australian Work and Best Performance in a Leading Role – Mainstage Production.
This year also marked the beginning of an exciting partnership between the Matilda Awards and the Actors’ & Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund (ABF Qld) which welcomed two new awards.
The inaugural Carol Burns Award for a Mid-Career Performer was presented to Ashlee Lollback while the Tony Gould Award for an Independent Arts Company/Collective was awarded to THAT Production Company.
Minister for the Arts John-Paul Langbroek thanked all 2024 Matilda Award winners and nominees for the incredible quality and diversity of their work.
“It is critical that home-grown talent and stories are shared on local and global stages,” Minister Langbroek said.
“The Crisafulli Government is proud to invest in the state’s performing arts sector, including Gold Matilda Winner Flipside Circus and the multi award-winning development and presentation of Straight from the Strait at Brisbane Festival last year.
“The Matilda Awards honour excellence in the sector and the role it plays in strengthening our state’s cultural reputation, as we look to grow our creative workforce and visitor economy in preparation for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Matilda Awards Lead Judge Sue Rider said it was both a pleasure and privilege to be entertained by talented artists and fearless productions staged in Queensland in 2024 .
“This year honours a thrilling mix of award winners, spanning works of scale to solo performances. I am especially moved by the strength of First Nations voices in the creation of compelling theatre: Straight from the Strait, 37, Blue, Meet Your Maker and Dangerous Goods together claimed 10 of the 20 awards,” Ms Rider said.
“In the independent sector, The Reaction Theory and BIPOC Arts Australia punched well above their weight with Scenes from a Yellow Peril receiving two awards from five nominations. Other independent winners were Banana Crabtree Simon from de Mooi Media, PIP Theatre’s Fun Home, Ready or Not from Gold Coast-based White Rabbit Theatre, and the hard-working Salad Days Collective who produced three productions in 2024 and jointly won the Bille Brown Best Emerging Artist Award.
“Collectively, the judges viewed 100 productions, more than half of which were independently produced, and what we observed painted a vibrant and promising picture for the future of our state’s theatre sector.”
The Matilda Awards are proudly supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland, Brisbane City Council and Brisbane Powerhouse.
See the Matilda Awards 2024 Recipient and Nominees here.