Dear colleagues,
We are very pleased to send through the recipient list for the 2025 ADSA prizes, recognising outstanding scholarship, creative practice, editorial leadership, and research across our field:

Veronica Kelly Prize for Best Postgraduate Paper
Winner: Andrew Sutherland, “Spectral Walking: The Lion Never Sleeps and a queer hauntology of public space”, commended for its sophisticated analysis, compelling narrative voice, and contribution to queer Australian theatre historiography.

Highly commended: Triss Niemi, “You’re so lucky to be here: negotiating host and guest when visiting transgender worlds on the mainstage”, recognised for its rigorous argument, innovative dramaturgical proposals, and urgent insights into trans performance-making.

Geoffrey Milne Bursary
Awarded to three postgraduate scholars to support their participation in the ADSA conference: Leigh Fitzpatrick, Yashodhara S. Liyanaarachchi, and Jermaine Hampton.

Victor Emeljanow Bursary
Awarded to Dr Jiva Nath Lamsal for his paper, “Collaborative Performances for Justice: The Role of, and Care for, an Audience in Nepali Kachahari Natak”. The judges highlighted Lamsal’s exemplary fieldwork, decolonial framing, and powerful contribution to global applied theatre scholarship.

Philip Parsons Prize
No prize awarded in 2025.

Joanne Tompkins Prize for Excellence in Book and Journal Editing
This year's exceptionally strong field produced joint winners:
Suzanne Little, Samid Suliman and Caroline Wake for Performance, Resistance and Refugees (Routledge, 2023), recognised for its editorial leadership, cross-disciplinary reach, and authoritative contribution to scholarship on performance, migration, and belonging.
Tracy C. Davis and Paul Rae for The Cambridge Guide to Mixed Methods Research for Theatre and Performance Studies (Cambridge University Press, 2024), a major methodological intervention shaping future research across the field and supporting emerging scholars.

Flinders University AusStage Prize
Winner: Margaret Hamilton, “‘Entrances’, ‘Exits’ or ‘Nodes’, ‘Edges’, ‘Clusters’?: Simon Stone, & the Director as a ‘Network Subject’”. This data-rich case study uses AusStage to trace Stone’s international creative networks, offering a compelling reframe of directorial authorship and aesthetic transmission.

Marlis Thiersch Prize
Winner: Suzanne Little, “In extremis performance and Theatre of the Real” (Performance Research, 2024). The article provides a timely and incisive examination of authenticity, spectatorship, and mediated truth, extending the Performance of the Real research theme in innovative directions.


Please join us in congratulating all recipients for their exceptional contributions to theatre, drama, and performance studies. Their work continues to inspire the discipline and enrich our shared scholarly community.

We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all prize judges who so generously gave their time to assess submissions.

Finally, thank you to all members who submitted this year. The ADSA prizes are an important function of the association, and we take great pride in celebrating all member achievements and excellence.