Honoring productions from throughout the year in 2013, the 2014 Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards nominees made the cut from a field of over 150 productions from theatres large and small across Ireland.

For 2014, the Gate Theatre received 11 nominations for its production of A Streetcar Named Desire, An Enemy of the People, and The Threepenny Opera, while Dublin’s Abbey Theatre received  three nominations for its production of King Lear.

Meanwhile, among independent productions, Pan Pan Theatre led the honorees with four nominations for its production of Embers, by Samuel Beckett, while other multiple nominees included Riverrun, from The Emergency Room and Galway Arts Festival, and Howie the Rookie, from Landmark Productions, both of which received three nominations.

 

2014 IRISH TIMES IRISH THEATRE AWARDS NOMINEES

 

Best Production

Lippy, by Busk Moukarzel and Mark O’Halloran, directed by Ben Kidd and Bush Moukarzel (Dead Centre)

A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, directed by Ethan McSweeny (The Gate Theatre)

Howie the Rookie, written and directed by Mark O’Rowe (Landmark Productions)

The Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, directed by Wayne Jordan (The Gate Theatre)

 

Best Actor

Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Howie the Rookie, written and directed by Mark O’Rowe (Landmark Productions)

Ryan McParland, Summertime, written by David Ireland, and directed by Michael Duke (Tinderbox Theatre Company)

Simon Callow, The Man Jesus, written by Matthew Hurt, and directed by Joseph Alford (Belfast’s Lyric Theatre)

Owen Roe, King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, and directed by Selina Cartmell (the Abbey Theatre)

 

Best Actress

Olwen Fouéré, Riverrun, written by James Joyce, and adapted by Olwen Fouéré and directed by Olwen Fouéré and Kellie Hughes (the Emergency Room and Galway Arts Festival)

Joanne Ryan, What Happened to Bridgie Cleary, written by Tom MacIntyre, and directed by John Murphy (Bottom Dog Theatre Company)

Lia Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams, and directed by Ethan McSweeny (the Gate Theatre)

Orla Fitzgerald, Digging for Fire, written by Declan Hughes, and directed by Matt Torney (Rough Magic Theatre Company)

 

Best Supporting Actor

Tadhg Murphy, Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett, directed by Judy Hegarty Lovett (the Gare St Lazare Players Ireland)

Denis Conway, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, directed by Ethan McSweeny (the Gate Theatre)

Sean O’Callaghan, The Seafarer, by Conor McPherson, directed by Rachel O’Riordan (Lyric Theatre and Perth Theatre)

Hugh O’Conor, King Lear, by Shakespeare, directed by Selina Cartmell (the Abbey Theatre)

 

Best Supporting Actress

Aisling O’Sullivan, The Colleen Bawn, by Dion Boucicault, directed by Garry Hynes (Druid Theatre)

Ruth McGill, The Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, directed by Wayne Jordan (the Gate Theatre)

Fiona Bell, An Enemy of the People, in Arthur Miller’s adaptation of Ibsen, directed by Wayne Jordan (the Gate)

Catherine Walker, A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Ethan McSweeny (the Gate Theatre)

 

Best Costumes

Francis O’Connor, Mrs Warren’s Profession, written by George Bernard Shaw, and directed by Patrick Mason (the Gate Theatre)

Antony McDonald, The Importance of Being Earnest, written by Oscar Wilde, and directed by Antony McDonald (NI Opera and Wide Open Opera)

Saileóg O’Halloran, Thirteen, directed by Louise Lowe, Will Irvine and Bairbre Ní hAodha (Anu Productions Productions and Dublin Fringe Festival)

Gaby Rooney, King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, and directed by Selina Cartmell (the Abbey Theatre)

 

Best Lighting

Mark Howland, The Man Jesus, written by Matthew Hurt, and directed by Joseph Alford (the Lyric Theatre)

Aedín Cosgrove, Embers, written by Samuel Beckett, and directed by Gavin Quinn (Pan Pan Theatre)

Sinéad McKenna, Howie the Rookie, written and directed by Mark O’Rowe (Landmark Productions)

Stephen Dodd, Riverrun, written by James Joyce, and adapted by Olwen Fouéré and directed by Olwen Fouéré and Kellie Hughes (the Emergency Room and Galway Arts Festival)

 

Best Set

Lee Savage, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, directed by Ethan McSweeny (The Gate Theatre)

Andrew Clancy, Embers, by Samuel Beckett, directed by Gavin Quinn (Pan Pan Theatre and the Samuel Beckett Theatre)

Owen MacCarthaigh, A Skull in Connemara, by Martin McDonagh, directed by Andrew Flynn (Decadent Theatre Company)

Colm McNally, Distance from the Event, by Eoghan Quinn, directed by Dan Colley (Collapsing Horse Theatre)

 

Best Sound

Philip Stewart, An Enemy of the People, by Ibsen, adapted by Arthur Miller and directed by Wayne Jordan (The Gate Theatre)

Alma Kelliher, Riverrun, directed by Olwen Fouéré and Kellie Hughes (The Emergency Room and Galway Arts Festival)

Jimmy Eadie, Embers, by Samuel Beckett, directed by Gavin Quinn (Pan Pan Theatre)

Adam Welsh, Lippy, by Busk Moukarzel and Mark O’Halloran, directed by Ben Kidd and Bush Moukarzel (Dead Centre)

 

Best Director

Ethan McSweeny, A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams, and produced by the Gate Theatre)

Annie Ryan, Desire Under the Elms, written by Eugene O’Neill, and produced by the Corn Exchange)

Rosemary McKenna, Way to Heaven, written by Juan Mayorga, and produced by Rough Magic)

Gavin Quinn, Embers, written by Samuel Beckett, and directed by Gavin Quinn (produced by Pan Pan Theatre), and for Carmen (produced by OTC)

 

Best New Play

The Games People Play, by Gavin Kostick, directed by Bryan Burroughs (Rise Productions)

The Man Jesus, by Matthew Hurt, directed by Joseph Alford (The Lyric Theatre)

Guaranteed!, by Colin Murphy, directed by Conall Morrison (Fishamble: The New Play Company)

The Man in the Woman’s Shoes, written and directed by Mikel Murfi (Hawk’s Well Theatre and Sligo Arts Service)

 

Best Opera

The Importance of Being Earnest, by Gerald Barry, directed by Antony McDonald (Wide Open Opera and Northern Ireland Opera)

L’Elisir D’Amore, by Donizetti, directed by Oliver Mears (Opera Theatre Company and Northern Ireland Opera)

Cristina, Regina di Svezia, by Jacopo Foroni, directed by Stephen Medcalf (Wexford Festival Opera)

Carmen, by Bizet, directed by Gavin Quinn (Opera Theatre Company)

 

Judges’ Special Award Nominees
 

Carysfort Press

“For its commitment to broadening theatre and performance scholarship and the publication of Irish plays.”

New Theatre

“In recognition of its commitment to providing a home for new work.”

Decadent

“For its enduring and dynamic commitment to creating theatre for touring nationally.”

Anu Productions

“To mark its work commemorating the Dublin Lockout, using the city as its set, and its reconfiguration of the audience as citizens.”