The Wellington Theatre Awards was established in 1992 to salute the work and achievements of the passionate and hardworking creatives that year on year continue to produce great theatre in Wellington. This form is for theatre practitioners to submit their nominations for the Community Awards and Backstage Award for 2026.

We invite you to submit your nominations for individuals or companies that have made a significant and positive impact on our community in their work and practice across the last year. Especially those whose efforts are behind the scenes and sometimes go unnoticed - from Ushers, Volunteers, Publicists and all our unsung heroes across Pōneke. Community Award Nominations close at 10pm on Thursday 12 November 2026.

The Backstage Award exists specifically to recognise the hard working and skilled theatre practitioners that work backstage and have demonstrated excellence vital to the success of theatre in Wellington this year. The Backstage Award is open to nominations from the wider sector and the winner is selected by the judges. The specific roles that are eligible are Operators, Production Managers, Stage Managers. This can be summed up as: Excellence in the fields of Technical Operation (Sound, Lighting, Vision) or Arts Management (Stage, Production or Technical). The Backstage Award Nominations close at 10pm on Thursday 12 November 2026.

The Backstage and Community Awards are open to nomination to the wider sector prior to the ceremony evening and are selected by the judges. This form will be shared with this years judges. This currently includes Kate Anderson, Lia Kelly, Phoebe Calderio, Amy Tarleton, Lucas Neal, Jthan Morgan, Christopher Yu, Brynne Tasker-Poland, Regan Taylor, Simon Howard, Sameena Zehra and Marshall Rankin. If you have any questions or are unsure of eligibility, feel free to contact the Wellington Theatre Awards Administrator, Jacqueline Coats at wgtnta@gmail.com.