Cassie Tongue joins Sydney Theatre Awards voting panel

AussieTheatre’s Deputy Editor Cassie Tongue has been named as the latest member on the Sydney Theatre Awards voting panel.

The Sydney Theatre Awards are run by a group of theatre critics to celebrate the strength, quality and diversity of theatre in Sydney, including Elissa Blake (Sun Herald), Jason Blake (Sydney Morning Herald), Deborah Jones (The Australian), Jo Litson (Sunday Telegraph), John McCallum (The Australian), John Shand (Sydney Morning Herald), Diana Simmonds (Stagenoise website) Polly Simons (Daily Telegraph) and Brad Syke (Crikey). Tongue joins the panel as the 10th member of the group and will vote on the next awards, set to be presented in January 2015.

After completing a Communication and Media Studies degree at University of Newcastle, where her poetry was published in a number of magazines, she has gone on to write about music for Liveguide, and about theatre for Broadwayworld, AussieTheatre.com and Time Out Sydney.

“I have long admired the critical culture in the Sydney theatre scene, which is perfectly encapsulated by the Sydney Theatre Awards” Tongue said.

“Every year a room full of passionate theatre makers and critics celebrate the great work in our part of the Australian theatre industry; it’s a strong display of community. Being invited to join the critical conversation with these insightful, intelligent and extremely knowledgeable critics is such an honour.”

Ian Phipps, Co-ordinator of the Sydney Theatre Awards has praised Tongue for her knowledge and passion for theatre.

“The critics on the Sydney Theatre Awards panel have been reading Cassie’s reviews over the last couple of years and respect her knowledge, opinions and ability to articulate her opinions. We’re thrilled she has accepted our invitation to join the panel, and look forward to her participations during our robust discussions about Sydney theatre,” he said.

A huge congratulations to Cassie Tongue for this honour. To read some of Cassie’s recent reviews on AussieTheatre, click here