CONDAs photo recap highlights theatre award winners across Newcastle and the Hunter

14 December 2025

newy.com.au – The City of Newcastle Drama Association has just celebrated winners from the 47th City of Newcastle Drama Awards (CONDAs) at Newcastle Town Hall on Saturday.

The CONDAs were established in 1979 to recognise theatre excellence across the region and have been promoted by organisers as Australia’s longest established continuous theatre awards, the ceremony is held each December after an annual judging period.

Sharing 30 new images, the association said it was “a look back at some of the night’s outstanding winners, celebrating excellence in theatre and the incredible talent within our community”.

Among the night’s major honours, Opera Hunter’s Sweeney Todd won Best Musical Production, while Newcastle Theatre Company’s The Father took Best Dramatic Production. Star Struck 2025 Remixed Vol. 33 was awarded Best Special Theatrical Event, and Australian Writers Theatre’s #This Is Not Journalism won Best New Play or Musical Written for a Newcastle Company.

The association listed John McFadden as the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to Theatre award, and named George Francis, Bill and Val Hitchcock, and Michelle Burnitt as the year’s Legacy Award recipients.

In design and technical categories, Kiri Oliver and Liz Troyer were recognised for costume design on Belmont Christian College’s Alice in Wonderland, while Ralf Jorg and Dana Leon Oakley won for hair and wigs on Opera Hunter’s Sweeney Todd. Claire Thomas won makeup for Young People’s Theatre (YPT) Newcastle’s The Shoemaker’s Secret, Amy Wilde won set and prop design for Newcastle Theatre Company’s Morning Sacrifice, and Katy Booth won audio visual and multimedia design for YPT Newcastle’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Lighting design awards were shared between Xavier Shaw for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (HSPA) and Riordan Munnoch for YPT Newcastle’s Into the Woods, while Zippie Tiffenright won sound design for Bearfoot Theatre’s Cosa Vedranno: What Will They See? Tiffenright also took director (play) honours, with Riley McLean and Maddie Newland awarded director (musical) for Diary of a Wimpy Kid (YPT Newcastle).

The youth awards (18 and under) included Myf McMahon for supporting role (play) in The Tragedy of Macbeth (NTC) and Kye Dennis for lead role (play) in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (HSPA), with Dennis also listed as lead role (musical) for Hunter Drama’s The Lightning Thief. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (High Street Productions) and The Rise of Bozz (Aspire Catholic Schools) were both listed as Best Production – Musical winners, while Hunter Drama’s The Crucible was named Best Production – Play.