The South Otago Theatrical Society (SOTS) won two awards at the 2022 Otago Southland Theatre Awards (the Ostas) for their production of I’ll Be Back Before Midnight .
The Ostas were presented at a gala awards evening at the Town and Country Club in Gore, attended by representatives from nine theatre groups from throughout Otago and Southland.
SOTS won both best leading male in a play and best leading female in a play.
Kellie Post saw off all other contenders with her portrayal of ‘‘Jan’’ to win best leading female in a play.
Playing opposite her was Brent Gardner, whose portrayal of ‘‘George’’ earned him best leading male in a play.
Twelve productions were entered in 2022, seven musicals and five plays. There were 92 nominations across 22 categories which made it challenging for the six judges to determine winners, Ostas chairman Brian Pay said.
Miss Post said it felt ‘‘quite amazing’’ to win the award.
‘‘My role was quite a challenge for me, so it was pretty cool to see my hard work paid off.
‘‘I really enjoyed working with a smaller cast and getting to know everyone at a deeper level.’’
Mr Gardner said he was ‘‘very surprised’’ to win his award.
‘‘I felt like I was playing myself as a broken-down old man, so I was pretty surprised to receive an award for being myself,’’ he joked.
‘‘It was a pleasant surprise, though, and I’m chuffed.’’ SOTS is having a theatre open day from 2pm on Sunday, March 5.
