In the best actor category, Stephen Rea - perhaps best known for his role in 'The Crying Game' and 'Interview with the Vampire' - is nominated for his role as Eric in the Abbey Theatre and Royal Court Theatre co-production of Cyprus Avenue, by David Ireland.
Among the most nominated productions in the 15 categories are the Dublin Theatre Festival, Michael Keegan-Dolan and partners for Swan Lake/ Lach na hEala and the Druid production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, by Martin McDonagh and Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett, also a Druid production.
“This is the twentieth anniversary of the awards, established to honour and celebrate the achievements on the Irish stage,” says the founder of the awards, Gerry Smyth.
“At the time of their inauguration there was no such formal recognition of the vibrant creative forces at work in Irish theatre. The initiative was a marriage of the newspaper’s commitment to arts coverage with a practical sponsorship. The winners and nominees of the past twenty years add up to a Who’s Who of the Irish theatre scene and many of those who were up-and-coming have gone on to international acclaim and to impress wider audiences. ”
On the night, there will be a Special tribute award made to Siobhán Bourke and Jane Daly for their outstanding contribution to Irish theatre, as founders and co-directors of the Irish Theatre Institute (ITI), a resource organisation for Irish theatre providing a range of networking, information and training programmes. It researches and promotes the Irish repertoire through Playography Ireland, an online searchable catalogue of new Irish writing, and provides extensive programmes for supporting artists and developing work, including the Show in a Bag and Six in the Attic programmes.
The Audience Choice Prize continues this year, opening from the beginning of February, and the public will vote for their favourite Irish theatre performance of 2016 at irishtimes.com.
The three judges for 2016 were: Anna Walsh, Director of Theatre Forum; Ella Daly, Dublin Youth Theatre; and Dr Nicholas Grene, Professor Emeritus, TCD. Between them they saw almost 150 productions in conventional theatres, site-specific locations and promenade performances throughout the country.
Tickets for the awards night (€20) are currently on sale at www.nch.ie.
Here's the full list of the nominees:
*Best actor
Stephen Rea for his role as Eric in the Abbey Theatre and Royal Court Theatre co-production of Cyprus Avenue, by David Ireland.
Mikel Murfi For his performance in Swan Lake/Loch na hEala, a Michael Keegan-Dolan, Sadler’s Wells Theatre London, Colours International Dance Festival, Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Dublin Theatre Festival, and Theatre de la Ville, Luxembourg co-production.
Marty Rea For his roles as Vladimir in the Druid production of Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett and as Iago in the Abbey Theatre production of Othello, by William Shakespeare.
Owen Roe For his role as Andre in the Gate Theatre production of Florian Zeller’s The Father, in a translation by Christopher Hampton.

*Best actress
Barbara Brennan For her role as Ellen in the Abbey Theatre production of Town is Dead, by Phillip McMahon, music by Raymond Scannell.
Caitríona Ennis For her performance in the WeGetHighOnThis Collective in association with Theatre Upstairs production of Test Dummy, by Caitríona Daly.
Marie Mullen For her role as Mag Folan in the Druid production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, by Martin McDonagh.
Aisling O’Sullivan For her role as Maureen Folan in the Druid production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, by Martin McDonagh.

*Best supporting actor
Stephen Brennan For his role as Peter Sorin in The Corn Exchange and Dublin Theatre Festival production of The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov in a new version by Michael West and Annie Ryan.
Brian Doherty For his role as Finbar in the Abbey Theatre’s production of The Wake, by Tom Murphy.
Rory Nolan For his role as Pozzo in the Druidproduction of Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett.
Daniel Riordan For his role in the Brokentalkers production of This Beach, a co-production with the Munich Kammerspiele, the Goethe-Institut Irland presented as part of EUROPOLY at Tiger Dublin Fringe.

*Best supporting actress
Kate Gilmore For her role as Katarina in the Abbey Theatre production of Town is Dead, by Phillip McMahon, music by Raymond Scannell.
Clare Monnelly For her role as Mary in the NOMAD in association with Livin’ Dred Theatre Company production of Bailegangaire, by Tom Murphy.
Janet Moran For her role as Mrs. Gogan in the Abbey Theatre production of The Plough and the Stars, by Sean O’Casey.
Ali White For her roles in Rough Magic Theatre Company’s production of Northern Star, by Stewart Parker.

*Best director
Grace Dyas and Barry John O’Connor For the THEATREclub production of It’s Not Over.
Sean Holmes For the AbbeyTheatre production of The Plough and the Stars, by Sean O’Casey.
Garry Hynes For the Druidproductions of Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett and The Beauty Queen of Leenane, by Martin McDonagh.
Michael Keegan-Dolan For Swan Lake/Loch na hEala, a Michael Keegan-Dolan, Sadler’s Wells Theatre London, Colours International Dance Festival, Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Dublin Theatre Festival, and Theatre de laVille, Luxembourg co-production.

*Best production
Swan Lake/Loch na hEala A Michael Keegan-Dolan, Sadler’s Wells Theatre London, ColoursInternational Dance Festival, Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Dublin Theatre Festival, and Theatre de la Ville, Luxembourg co-production.
The Father A Gate Theatreproduction of Florian Zeller’s play, in a translation by Christopher Hampton.
The Plough and The Stars An Abbey Theatre production of Sean O’Casey’s play.
Waiting for Godot A Druid production of Samuel Beckett’s play.

*Best set design
Ciaran Bagnall For the Abbey Theatre production of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, by Frank McGuinness.
Alex Lowde For the Lyric Theatre production of Three Sisters by Lucy Caldwell, in a version of the play by Anton Chekhov.
Francis O’Connor For the Gate Theatre production of Florian Zeller’s The Father, in a translation by Christopher Hampton.
Jamie Vartan For the Blue Raincoat Theatre Company production of Shackleton, the Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival production of Arlington [a love story], by Enda Walsh and the Wide Open Opera production of The Barber of Seville, by Gioachino Rossini.

*Best lighting design
Zia Bergin-Holly For the Pan Pan production of The Importance of Nothing, after Oscar Wilde adapted by the ensemble.
Hanna Bowe For the Umbrella Theatre Project production of Glowworm, by Tom Nieboer.
Paul Keogan For the AbbeyTheatre production of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, by Frank McGuinness and with Aedín Cosgrove for the Corcadorca production of Sacrifice at Easter, by Pat McCabe.
Sarah Jane Shiels For the AbbeyTheatre production of Town Is Dead, by Phillip McMahon, music by Raymond Scannell.

*Best sound design
Helen Atkinson For the Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival production of Arlington [a love story].
Ben Delaney For the AbbeyTheatre production of Town Is Dead, by Phillip McMahon, music by Raymond Scannell.
Joe Hunt For the Blue Raincoat Theatre Company production of Shackleton.
Emma Laxton For the AbbeyTheatre production of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, by Frank McGuinness.

*Best costume design
Catherine Fay For the AbbeyTheatre production of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and The Stars.
Jonathan Fensom For the Gate Theatre production of The Heiress, by Ruth & Augustus Goetz, based on the novel Washington Square by Henry James.
Joan O’Clery For the RoughMagic Theatre Company’s production of Stewart Parker’s Northern Star.
Hyemi Shin For the Michael Keegan-Dolan, Sadler’s Wells Theatre London, Colours International Dance Festival, Theaterhaus Stuttgart, Dublin Theatre Festival, and Theatre de la Ville, Luxembourg co-production of Swan Lake/Loch na hEala.

*Best new play
Cyprus Avenue By David Ireland, produced by the Abbey Theatre and Royal Court Theatre.
Shackleton By Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, developed with Jocelyn Clarke.
Test Dummy By Caitríona Daly, produced by WeGetHighOnThis Collective in association with Theatre Upstairs.
Town Is Dead By Phillip McMahon, music by Raymond Scannell, produced by the Abbey Theatre.

*Best opera
Herculanum Wexford Festival Opera’s production of Félicien David’s work, presented with the support of Palazzeto Bru Zane.
Long Story Short: The Belfast Opera A Belfast Buildings Trust production featuring a Community Chorus, composed by Neil Martin, libretto by Glenn Patterson.
The Barber of Seville Wide Open Opera’s production of Gioacchino Rossini’s work.
Vanessa Wexford Festival Opera’s production of Samuel Barber’s work.

*Judges’ special award
ANU Productions For sustained imaginative engagement with the commemoration of 1916 throughout the year.
Dublin Fringe Festival, Fishamble and the Irish Theatre Institute For creating Show in a Bag which has enabled the production of outstanding work such as, in the last year, To Hell in a Handbag and The Humours of Bandon.
NOMAD Theatre Network For their ongoing commitment to producing and touring theatre regionally and nationally, most recently with the Livin’ Dred Theatre Company’s production of Bailegangaire, by Tom Murphy.
Theatre Lovett For the inventiveness of their work, most recently represented in They Called Her Vivaldi, and the company’s ongoing contribution to children’s theatre.