Over the summer holidays, KPA's 2023 production of Disney's Frozen Jr, was nominated for 2 awards in the 48^th Robert Finley Awards.

The ITA Robert Finley Award is made annually to what is judged to be the best theatrical production in that year by an amateur group in Western Australia for a Play or Musical. Originally there was one award — that of “Best Production” — later the award was altered to 2 categories, Best Play and Best Musical. In recent years the awards have been expanded to include Best Actor and Actress and many other categories.

The Award was originally made available by the former Finley Trust Fund, established in 1975 by Miss Hetty Finley, in memory of her brother Robert, and was controlled by the Finley Trustees through the Perth Theatre Trust.

The Robert Finley Awards is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate community theatre and the individual volunteers that make up the community. The Awards honour outstanding achievements of community theatres and artists in Western Australia, and are named for the late Robert Finley, who was a devoted patron of the local arts.

We were nominated for an Adjudicator’s Certificate for Best School Production, and we were also nominated for the Best Ensemble in a Musical Award. Both nominations are highly regarded, but to be nominated for Best Ensemble in the open category was a wonderful surprise. Michelle Vivian and I attended the awards night on Saturday 13 January at Newman College. I was also honoured to present an award on behalf of Kalamunda Senior High School. Whilst we did not win either of the categories, we were delighted to be named in the Top 5 Youth Productions for 2023. 

There were also many KPA students in other community theatre productions that were recognised on the evening. It is wonderful to see how prolific our KPA students are in the community theatre world.

This is the first time we have entered the award program, with the idea being to benefit from the 3 adjudication reports that are provided as a part of the process. The nominations were an added bonus, and should be considered a very high accolade. Many congratulations to all involved.

Here’s to another wonderful year of performance ahead!

Anna Head
Kalamunda Performing Arts Coordinator