It was the Pinnacle Players' first production, all three actors' first nominations for a Canberra Area Theatre award and for Mark Coster the first time he'd been on stage.
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But, the Orange group's production of Art held in a small space at the Peisley Street Gallery last year, has proven a winner clinching the best play and best actor's awards when the results were announced on Saturday night.
Though the stars and production team missed out on a gala awards dinner which was cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions there were some happy faces in Orange on Sunday.
The three actors in the comedy, Alvaro Marques, Nick Tucknott and Mr Coster each won a best actor award.
Mr Tucknott said putting the production on in a small space with a crowd of only 50 people had been challenging.
"It was very intimate. We actually had audiences on three sides," he said.
"It was certainly terrifying the first time round."
This is my first effort, something I've been wanting to do.
- Mark Coster, winner Best Actor
He said he felt an intense pressure to deliver lines and get the timing right with the audience so close.
"This is my first one [CAT award]. I've been working in both theatre and production since the early '90s. I've never been nominated. My first nomination, my first award," he said.
Mr Coster said it had been a great experience.
"This is my first effort, something I've been wanting to do," he said.
"By the time we got to the full dress rehearsal it was like 'what?" he said.
However he won't have long to celebrate in Orange as he, wife Catherine, and their children are leaving this week to fly back to New Zealand to take up a new job.
"I've been here for three-and-a-half years, working at Orange hospital," the registered nurse said.
He accepted the NZ job before the coronavirus erupted and was now hoping everything worked out for the trip this week.
Mr Marques' career includes performing in film and TV but he said this was his first CAT award.
"This is the first time I have been nominated. It was probably the first time I have worked in this way," he said.
"The production was very pared back. It was a great experience. The three of us just clicked.
"It's a great play. It's about art and it is about the relationships unfolding. There wasn't one main character."
"It was a great experience for the company," he said.
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David Fitzsimons
I am a senior journalist at the Central Western Daily concentrating on council, government and real estate issues. Before moving to Orange I filled senior roles at the Daily Telegraph, Daily Telegraph-Mirror and the Daily Mirror in Sydney. They included being an editor, news editor, chief of staff and reporter.
I am a senior journalist at the Central Western Daily concentrating on council, government and real estate issues. Before moving to Orange I filled senior roles at the Daily Telegraph, Daily Telegraph-Mirror and the Daily Mirror in Sydney. They included being an editor, news editor, chief of staff and reporter.
