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 launched 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.

As always the winners will be revealed at a black tie event to be held at the town’s Angel Hotel on Saturday, January 23.

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.

With the establishment of a new theatre trust it was decided that the time had come to re-constitute the committee and give it a new purpose in addition to its continued support and fundraising role and as a result it was renamed Acting4theBorough (A4B).

One of the major projects the group has instigated since its new look, is the introduction of the amateur theatre award scheme, which this year celebrates its fifth birthday and 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 ( Singing in the Rain and Return to the Forbidden Planet) , APC (Cinderella), Abergavenny Theatre Group (Inspector Drake’s Last Case) and B r e a k t h r o u g h Productions (Jude Garland’s Last Stand) - and nominating and selecting winners in a number of categories.

The project was launched successfully in 2011 and attracted a great deal of interest and support with a number of local businesses offering sponsorship and Abergavenny Town Council lending its financial support to the event.

As well as the list of performance awards the scheme also see the presentation of the Offstage Award, which was last year claimed by the committee of Abergavenny Pantomime Company and recognises work done behind the scenes at the theatre and the Bernard Zavishlock Award for Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Theatre - affectionately know as The Bernie.

Previous winners of this award have included Ken Williams, Alan Breeze and Adoree Flower.

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

Best Supporting Male Actor (under 25)

Brandon Jones - Return To the Forbidden Planet

Luke Williams - Singing In The Rain

Zak Williams - Cinderella

Luke Williams - Jude Garland’s Last Stand

Best Supporting Female Actor (under 25)

Maddie Robertson - Return To the Forbidden Planet

Molly Brickley-Clark - Return To the Forbidden Planet

Millie Francis - Return To the Forbidden Planet

Best Male Actor (under 25)

Luke Williams - Return To the Forbidden Planet

Alex Williams - Cinderella

Gareth James - Return To the Forbidden Planet

Best Female Actor (under 25)

Alys Le Moignan - Return To the Forbidden Planet

Alys Le Moignan - Singing In The Rain

Molly Brickley-Clark - Cinderella

Best Supporting Male Actor

Chris Phillips - Jude Garland’s Last Stand

Nick Watkins - Inspector Drake’s Last Case

Pete Holder - Cinderella

Best Supporting Female Actor

Andrea Marfell - Cinderella

Sarah Fowler - Jude Garland’s Last Stand

Su Meates - Cinderella

Best Male Actor

Andrew Fowler - Jude Garland’s Last Stand

Les Hayes - Inspector Drake’s Last Case

Stephen Hopkins - Singing In The Rain

Best Female Actor

Laura Harrington - Singing In The Rain

Sarah Phillips - Jude Garland’s Last Stand

Chelsea Viveash - Cinderella