Nominees announced for the 2026 Performing Arts WA Awards

The 2026 Performing Arts WA Awards Ceremony will take place at Heath Ledger Theatre on Monday, April 20, celebrating excellence in Western Australia’s professional live performance scene in 2025 across both mainstage and independent productions.

With support from DCITS and Arts & Culture Trust, the awards celebrate the professional live performing arts in Western Australia, including theatre, dance, musicals, opera and cabaret. They are hosted each year by Artist Relief Fund WA, a charity which supports arts workers experiencing hardship.

“We’re thrilled to host the Performing Arts WA Awards again this year,” said Artist Relief Fund WA Chair Nick Maclaine. “It’s so important to recognise the incredible achievements in professional performing arts in WA, and we’re set for another fantastic ceremony this year.”

Musical Urinetown by Western Sky Projects received the most nominations, with the hit show up for fourteen separate awards. Other big nominees include Co3 Dance Australia and the ACO Collective’s dance work IN THE SHADOW OF TIME, with eight nominations; The Blue Room Theatre and Tone Lists’ O,D,E also snagged eight nominations, while Freeze Frame Opera’s spooky Dead Man Walking scooped nine nominations.

WA Ballet scored 18 nominations across five shows from 2025; Drew Anthony Collective garnered 10 from three shows; and Black Swan State Theatre Company of WA has 11 nominations across four shows from their season last year.

Northbridge venue The Blue Room Theatre once again holds the biggest representation of nominations, with a whopping 46 nominations, holding them as the leaders of independent theatre in WA.

A total of 47 productions will vie for awards this year, in addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award and the brand new Ripple Effect Award, in honour of the late Georgia Malone.

The Ripple Effect Award is a new award for the broad performing arts sector in honour of Georgia Malone—a true champion of the arts with an incredible career that has left a lasting legacy, whose tireless and quiet contribution has had a ripple effect to make change and to impact others.

The idea for the award came from Georgia Malone’s husband John Carter. After navigating the complex web and the burden of administrative tasks after her death, John was looking at Georgia’s diary, an entry talking about her legacy and wanting to have had a ‘ripple effect’ on the world—he knew Georgia would have wanted any money to go towards someone who cares about the arts as much as she did.

From her school days through to her leadership across the country, Georgia honed an enviable breadth of knowledge built on her experience in all art forms from the ground up: from intern and stage manager to CEO, mentor and donor. She had a deep impact on the sector over thirty years, and countless artists and leaders will attest that they would not be where they are today without her honesty, wisdom and support.

Artist Relief Fund is also running a fundraising campaign through Australian Cultural Fund to support the ongoing giving of the Ripple Effect Award, with the 2026 recipient to be revealed on the night.

The 2026 Performing Arts WA Awards take place at Heath Ledger Theatre on Monday, April 20, 2026. For more info and to buy tickets, head to artsculturetrust.wa.gov.au