Andrew Bovell and Andrew Upton’s production of Beckett’s classic head the winners at Sydney’s annual theatre awards.

Andrew Bovell’s adaptation of Kate Grenville’s novel The Secret River was named Best New Australian Work at last night’s Sydney Theatre Awards.

It was a good night for Sydney Theatre Company which also won the award for Best Mainstage Production with Andrew Upton’s staging of Waiting for Godot. Luke Mullins won the Best Supporting Actor in a Mainstream Production for his portrayal of the unfortunate Lucky in the same show.

Elizabeth Debicki was named Best Newcomer for her performance in STC’s production of Genet’s The Maids alongside Cate Blanchett and French actress Isabelle Huppert. In one of the evenings surprises Blanchett, strongly tipped for this year’s Oscar following a string of awards for her performance in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, missed out on the Best Actress Award which went instead to Harriet Dyer for her performance in STC’s production of the rarely staged American play Machinal.

Rounding off STC’s night were Gabriela Tylesova who won both Best Costume Design and Best Stage Design for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead while the company also bathed in the reflected glory of a special award for “services...