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 21.

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 sixth birthday and once again for the past year has seen judges attending each of the amateur performances staged by the ‘user groups’ at the theatre - AAODS ( Sister Act and Moby Dick), APC (Sinbad the Sailor), Abergavenny Theatre Group (Dracula and One O’Clock from the House), ALOC (The Railway Children), VIG (Into the Woods) and B r e a k t h r o u g h Productions (Davy J and the BadBoyz) - 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.

This year has seen more companies than ever taking part in the scheme with the welcome return to the Borough Theatre of ALOC and VIG?joining the competition for the first time.

As well as the list of performance awards the scheme also see the presentation of the Offstage Award, which was last year claimed by former King’s Head landlords Ruth and Ken Watkins 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, Adoree Flower and Terry Monaghan

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

BEST MALE PERFORMER

Stephen Clark (Panto)

Les Hayes (Dracula)

Andrew Fowler (Davey J and the Badboyz)

BEST FEMALE PERFORMER

Mari-Anne Gibson (Dracula)

Emma-Jayne Morris (One o’Clock From the House)

Cecilia Bawler (Davy J and the Badboyz)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

PERFORMER

Phil Greenwood (One o’ Clock From the House)

Andrew Fowler (Into the Woods)

Chris Phillips (Davy J and the Badboyz)

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

PERFORMER

Emily Harrington (Panto)

Cecilia Bawler (Sister Act)

Janine Davis (One o’Clock From the House)

BEST MALE PERFORMER

(under 25)

Alex Williams (Panto)

Miles Harding (Moby Dick)

BEST FEMALE PERFORMER

(under 25)

Alys Le Moignan (Sister Act)

Kelsey Richardson (Into the Woods)

Hannah Lindoewood (Railway Children)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

PERFORMER (under 25)

Zac Williams (Panto)

Luke Williams (Sister Act)

Tom Davies (Moby Dick)

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

PERFORMER (under 25)

Eleanor James (Railway Children)

Scarlett Summers (Railway Children)

Felicia Lewis (Moby Dick)