The inaugural IW Amateur Theatre Awards Evening, held at Northwood House on 14th March, was a resounding success.
Representatives of all theatre groups who welcomed IW Theatre judges to their 2024 shows gathered to celebrate the very best of the Island amateur theatre community.
Hosted by Simon Dabell, and sponsored by Caught Red-Handed Productions, the evening recognised a wide range of pantomimes, plays and musicals as well as individual actors who represented the amazing talent we have on this small Island.
Organisers were pleased that Caroline Hannam, daughter of John Hannam, was able to attend. John of course hosted a series of Theatre Award evenings for many years, and sadly passed away in 2021. She said:
“It was wonderful to spend the evening in the company of so many of the Island’s theatre community, celebrating their achievements and remembering my late father.”
Caroline presented three awards including the John Hannam Award for contribution to the theatre community, won by First Act. Accepting the award on their behalf, Carol Laidler, First Act’s founder, said:
“It was an honour to receive the John Hannam Award. He was such a wonderful supporter of First Act and all amateur theatre productions on the island.”
We were also delighted to welcome as a guest presenter Nancy Allen, widow of Ray Allen, famous for writing ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em’ among many other things, who would have been 85 the day after the Awards. She said:
“Ray would have loved this evening and to see the awards resurrected – he and John Hannam were good friends and Ray was always a great supporter of Island amateur theatre.”
A full list of winners is published on IW Theatre’s website: iwtheatre.org. The headline winners were: Best Pantomime: Robin Hood by Amy White Theatre; Best Play: Canterbury Tales by CAODS at Trinity Theatre and Best Musical: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Curtain Call Creative.
Congratulations to all the winners and nominees: after the success of this year’s event, IW Theatre will be planning something even bigger and better for 2026….
Maureen Sullivan is a regular contributor to Island Echo’s coverage of the Arts on the Isle of Wight. Maureen has been actively involved in the Island’s amateur dramatics scene for several years, appearing in many different roles and guises with several theatre companies. In her free time, Maureen also writes and reviews at iwtheatre.org.
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