ELIGIBILITY

The awards cover professional and independent live performing arts productions that fall into the following artforms:

THEATRE · DANCE · MUSICALS · OPERA · CABARET

We cover productions presented in Perth and its surrounding suburbs, as well as anywhere in rural or regional areas. Due to funding and budget constraints, rural productions must be assessed by submitting a high quality recording to our panels.

If your production has multiple seasons this calendar year, please consider which season you wish to invite judges to.

All panels reserve the right to add and exclude awards on a year by year basis, depending on the work judged across the year.

Mainstage and independent productions:

A mainstage production is produced by a company with waged staff that receives substantial ongoing funding.

All productions presented at Perth Festival are considered mainstage productions.

An independent production is produced by a company or artist that does not receive substantial ongoing funding. It typically involves offering artists a profit-share arrangement where the distribution of profits is clearly defined. A production is still considered independent if the producing company or artist received one-off funding to pay artists industry award payment.

 

All productions must satisfy these conditions:

  • Be presented within calendar year 2025

  • Be presented in Western Australia

  • Offer at least 2 public performances*

  • Offer professionals industry award payment, or offer professionals a profit-share arrangement where the distribution of profits is clearly defined

  • Be produced by Western Australian (WA) companies or artists, or produced by non-WA companies or artists engaging WA artists where the work of WA artists can be clearly considered. This means that productions that engage only interstate or international artists are not eligible.

  • Be a new production (such as a state or world premiere), a revival of a repertory work by an opera or ballet company, or an eligible remount

  • Be seen by a minimum of four judges

* Cabaret productions with only 1 public performance can be considered if sufficient notice is given.

* Productions that qualify as Contemporary or Experimental Performances and which have only 1 public performance (including an online performance) can be considered if sufficient notice is given.

 

The following will not be considered:

  • Amateur, community or pro-am productions, including productions presented by amateur, community or pro-am performing arts companies

  • School or university productions

  • Industry showings or developments

  • Works performed as fundraisers

  • Works that are mostly improvised

  • Works best categorised as circus, concerts, comedy, tribute or variety

  • Works presented as part of a fringe festival (including FRINGE WORLD)

Remounts will be eligible only in limited circumstances, including remounts of productions that originally premiered at a fringe festival, remounts where the original production could not be assessed by our panels, or remounts that are ‘substantially different’ to the original production in that:

  • A long passage of time has passed since the production was presented

  • The work has been significantly restaged/rewritten/recontextualised

  • New artists are engaged in key roles

The Judging Coordinator has final say as to the eligibility of a remounted production.