Winners have been announced for Ottawa's first-ever Rideau Awards, which celebrate achievement in English professional theatre in Ottawa.  The awards were presented during a celebration at Arts Court Theatre on Sunday, April 13, 2008.

The winners are:

BEST PRODUCTION

Greek (Repercussion Theatre)

BEST DIRECTOR

Kevin Orr ( Greek, Repercussion Theatre)

BEST PERFORMANCE -- FEMALE

Kristina Watt ( Top Girls, Third Wall Theatre)

BEST PERFORMANCE -- MALE

Peter Froehlich ( Merz, New Theatre of Ottawa)

BEST DESIGN

Rebecca Miller (Lighting Design, Top Girls, Third Wall Theatre)

BEST NEW CREATION

The Churchill Protocol (Gruppo Rubato; original script by Patrick Gauthier and Kris Joseph, directed by Natalie Joy Quesnel)

EMERGING ARTIST AWARD

Michelle LeBlanc (Actor)

24 professional theatre productions were juried by a team of 11 local arts professionals during the 2007 calendar year.  Nominations were submitted by secret ballot and tallied by local accountant, Chong Pelot.