ONCE again over the past year a team of expert judges have been attending performances by local amateur companies at Abergavenny’s Borough Theatre as part of the annual amateur theatre award scheme operated by A4B - the group formerly known as the Borough Theatre Management Committee.

This week sees the announcement of the keenly awaited list of nominees for the awards which cover all aspects of on stage performance.

The winners will be revealed at a black tie event to be held at the town’s Angel Hotel on Saturday, January 27.

The Borough Theatre Management Committee was formed by members of local amateur theatre companies some 20 years ago with the purpose of ’saving’ the Borough Theatre from closure.

During its first decade, the committee was responsible for raising funds to ensure the continued existence of the theatre and for initially establishing the theatre as a professional venue and latterly pressuring the local authority into employing a professional management team at the Borough. Almost a decade the committee was renamed A4B and now plays a vital role in supporting and fundraising for the Borough Theatre.

One of the major projects the group has instigated was the introduction, seven years ago of the amateur theatre award scheme, which once again for the past year has seen independent judges attending each of the amateur performances staged by the ‘user groups’ at the theatre - AAODS (9-5 and Hairspray Jr) , APC (Snow White), Abergavenny Theatre Group (The Crucible and Feet of Clay) and B r e a k t h r o u g h Productions (A Christmas Crisis) - and nominating and selecting winners in a number of categories.

This year for the first time saw Abergavenny Town Council reducing its level of funding for the event, with Cardiff-based Complete Weed Control (South and Central Wales)?Ltd taking over as the main sponsors of the event.

“As always we are very grateful to Abergavenny Rotary which sponsors four awards, to Zenith McCarty, which is this year sponsoring two awards, to Ruth and Ken Watkins, who sponsor one of our junior awards and of course to our new sponsors who stepped in to save the day,” said A4B chairman Liz Davies.

With the results due to be revealed in just a few weeks, the full list of nominees is as follows:

Best male performance in a play or musical

Matthew Bryant as Franklin Hart Jr in 9 to 5

Tom Gibson as Proctor in The Crucible

Chris Phillips as Rob in Christmas Crisis

Best female performance in a play or musical

Cecilia Bawler for Violet Newstead in 9 to 5

Lucy Richards as Judy Bernly in 9 to 5

Sarah Phillips as Fran in Christmas Crisis

Best supporting male performance in a play or musical

Shane Bassett as Hale in The Crucible

Matthew Bryant as Franklin Hart Jr in 9-5

Andrew Fowler as Teddy in Christmas Crisis

Best supporting female performance in a play or musical

Lucy Draper as Ros Keith in 9 to 5

Mari-Anne Gibson as Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible

Fiona Angwin - Cheever in The Crucible

Best male performance in a play or musical (Under 25)

Wade Fox as Link Larkin in Hairspray

Kerrigan Heffernan Joe in 9 to 5

Best female performance in a play or musical (Under 25)

Molly Brickley-Clark as Queen Malodorous in Snow White

Kelsea Richardson as Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5

Rebecca Saunders as Tracey Turnbladd in Hairspray

Best supporting male performance in a play or musical (Under 25)

Kerrigan Heffernan as as Corny Collins in Hairspray

Axl Bawler as Page in Snow White

Sydney Bawler as Seaweed J. Stubbs in Hairspray

Best supporting female performance in a play or musical (Under 25)

Ella Griffiths as Penny PIngleton in Hairspray

Rebecca Townley as Mary Warren in The Crucible

Zoe Hughes as Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray

Production of the Year

The Crucible

9 to 5

Christmas Crisis

The winners will be revealed at a black tie dinner to be held at The Angel Hotel in Abergavenny on Saturday, January 27 which will also see the presentation of the Bernard Zavishlock Award for outstanding contribution to amateur theatre.