The Matt Byrne Award is named in honour of our late friend and theatre stalwart, Matthew Byrne. We have the great honour of presenting this year’s Matt Byrne Award to Emma Riggs and Kerreane Sarti.
Emma and Kerreane, please come to the stage. The work these two have done in consistently providing high quality first-time opportunities for both youth and adults in various theatre roles, exemplifies the essence of this Award.
The Award areas they cover are:  Performer / principal cast member Director, Assistant Director, Musical Director, Stage Manager, Choreographer.

Emma and Kerreane have provided opportunities for many individuals in a variety of theatrical roles in a number of productions each year since the formation of Adelaide Youth Theatre in 2011. Not only have they given these individuals the opportunities, they have conscientiously mentored them during their first experiences, and often thereafter in subsequent productions. Their contribution, in the spirit of this Award, has been, and continues to be, immense.

This was established in their first production of Bugsy Malone in 2011. In it, nearly all the on-stage performers were first-timers in a stage musical, as were most young members of the pit band. It was also the first time in their roles for the director, musical director and choreographer. It is a practice they continue to this day and intend to continue in the future.
Emma and Kerreane have given a start to many production team members (director, assistant director or MD) over the past thirteen years. A small sample includes Niki Martin, Rodney Hutton, Fiona DeLaine, Michelle Nightingale, Mark Stefanoff, Josh Belperio, Ben Francis, Serena Cann and Georgia Broomhall.

In addition, many, many others have had their first theatrical opportunities on stage, orchestra pit and backstage. AYT has encouraged their first-timers in a number of roles to move on to community and professional theatre. In fact, one of last year’s TASA Youth Performer award winners, Oscar Bridges, is currently working in professional theatre on the east coast. Many others have done so, and Emma and Kerreane promote those people’s achievements personally, through their social media and in the public media.
Further, those first-time performers, musical directors and choreographers have often had the chance to broaden their skills and experience in AYT’s international tours to London, Los Angeles, Paris and Hong Kong. Those experiences reflect Emma and Kerreane’s continuing encouragement and mentoring.

Emma Riggs and Kerreane Sarti have, by their consistent encouragement and provision of opportunities for young people and adults to take on first time roles in the theatre, met the Matt Byrne Award criteria to an exceptionally high degree.

Emma and Kerreane, please accept this award from TASA.