The Glugs Theatrical Awards, also referred to as the Glugs Theatre Awards and sometimes capitalised as GLUGS, were annual awards given by a group of theatre-lovers in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia, The Glugs.

Background

The Glugs were established in 1969, created by a group of people including

theatre critic Theatre criticism is a genre of arts criticism, and the act of writing or speaking about the performing arts such as a play or opera. Theatre criticism is distinct from drama criticism, as the latter is a division of literary criticism whereas the ...

s, journalists, actors, and regular patrons of theatrical performances. The group, which included theatre critic Norman Kessell, publicisit Bill Fenn, press officer for

J. C. Williamson's J. C. Williamson's, formerly Williamson, Garner, & Musgrove and Williamson and Musgrove, was an Australian theatrical management company and theatre owner. With its beginnings in the theatrical productions of J. C. Williamson and his p ...

John Love, and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

producer

Allan Kendall Allan Crawford Kendall (29 September 1928 — 17 December 2013) was an Australian broadcaster and tennis player. Kendall, born in the New South Wales town of Orange, New South Wales, Orange, was a nephew of tennis player Jack Crawford (tennis) ...

, had been meeting for lunch semi-regularly since 1966. The group was named "The Glugs" by British-Canadian actor

Barry Morse Herbert "Barry" Morse (10 June 19182 February 2008) was a British-Canadian actor, writer, and director. He was known for playing Lt. Philip Gerard, the principal antagonist of the American television series '' The Fugitive'' (1963–67), as ...

, after they had presented him with a copy of '' The Glugs of Gosh'', a collection of poems by Australian poet

C. J. Dennis Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis (7 September 1876 – 22 June 1938), better known as C. J. Dennis, was an Australian poet and journalist known for his best-selling verse novel ''The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke'' (1915). Alongside ...

, as a gift. They were at first a private group, with their lunch meetings spread by

word-of-mouth Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a ...

People

In 2015, Lee Young, aged 86, was "Chief Glug", while Beverley Davies, aged 78, was the group's co-ordinator. At that time membership was around 80 members. In 2016, Bill Winspear was Chief Glug. Peter Binning was appointed Chief Glug in 2021, but died in November of that year.

Awards

The Glugs presented their first award in 1973, the Glugs Theatrical Award for Contribution to Theatre, which was presented to

David Williamson David Keith Williamson (born 1942) is an Australian playwright, who has also written screenplays and teleplays. He became known in the early 1970s with his political comic drama '' Don's Party'', and other well-known plays include '' The Clu ...

. Various other categories and named or special awards were added and dropped from the 1980s onwards. Some of these included: *Norman Kessell Memorial Award for Contribution to Theatre (1987–1993) *Norman Kessell Memorial Award for Outstanding Performance – Actress (1994–?) *Norman Kessell Memorial Award for Outstanding Performance – Actor (1994–?) *Hayes Gordon Memorial Award for Important Contribution to Theatre (1999–?; after

Hayes Gordon Hayes Gordon AO, (25 February 192019 October 1999) was an American-born actor, theatre entrepreneur, theatre producer and director and acting teacher with a considerable career in Australia. Early life Gordon was born on 25 February 1920 in ...

) *Chief Glug's Award for Excellence Behind the Scenes (1992–?) *Colleen Clifford Memorial Award Outstanding Performance in a Musical or Special Comedy Satire (1997–?; after

Colleen Clifford Colleen Clifford (17 November 1898 – 7 April 1996), born as Irene Margaret Blackford, was a British-born performer, who worked in her native England as well as New Zealand and, later in her career, Australia. As an actress she worked in all fa ...

(1898–1996)) *Taffy Davies Memorial Award For Best New Australian Play (1999–?) *Outstanding Production Critic's Choice (1996–2004); renamed Glugs' Choice (2005–); then Robert Davies Memorial Award (2011–?) *Jeffry Joynton-Smith Memorial Award Young Performer "On the Way" (1991–2005; after Jeffry Joynton-Smith , GM/CEO of the

Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust (AETT) is an Australian theatre and performing arts company based in Sydney established in 1954. It is today especially known for its music scholarship program. History The Australian Elizabethan Theatre ...

1969–1984) *Jeffry Joynton-Smith Memorial Award for Best Supporting Actors (2007–?) *SBW Foundation – Life Achievement Award, later Rodney Seaborn Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award (1991–2019; awarded to

Rodney Seaborn Rodney Frederick Marsden Seaborn (1912 − 17 May 2008) was an Australian psychiatrist, businessman, and philanthropist in the performing arts sector. He was responsible for supporting many theatre companies and professionals in Sydney, and ...

in 1997) (funded by the

Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

The awards are chosen by The Glugs membership, and are widely covered by theatrical press. The last awards reported were the 2019 awards, awarded in 2020.

Nancye Hayes Nancye Lee Bertles AM ( Hayes; born January 1943), billed under her maiden name as Nancye Hayes, is an Australian actress, dancer, singer and choreographer/director and narrator. She has been a leading figure in Australian musical theatre sin ...

was given the SBW Foundation Life Achievement Award.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Australian theatre awards Awards established in 1973 Theatre in Sydney