The Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre (DRTCC), its staff, the general artists’ community and the city were the stars of the show in hosting the Canberra Area Theatre (CAT) Awards on Saturday.

The awards, despite carrying the name of the national capital, recognise high performance in the theatre world across vast areas of NSW.

From Wollongong, Bateman’s Bay, Albury, other distant centres and nearby Molong and Orange, hundreds of people flocked to Dubbo as award contenders, family and friends or theatre lovers to watch those judged best in their fields of theatre receive awards.

The term gala awards night understates the importance of the recognition for amateur groups, actors, producers, directors and the wide array of other talented people who keep the theatre world alive in the regions.

In a world where screens increasingly dominate our lives, they keep the heart of an art form dating back to the ancient Greeks and beyond beating strongly.

There are few forms of art and entertainment that so thoroughly rely on the performance of talented people, on or off-stage, performing live and interacting directly with the audience.

It requires endless dedication, commitment, skill and courage to have your work on show and judged by hundreds of people as you perform live.

There are no video edits to change scenes or routines before the audience sees them, no way of airbrushing improvements to sets or costumes. It is as it is. Live.

And the wave of talent represented at the Dubbo theatre was tremendous.

While our local award nominees did not take home any silverware … their accomplishments were there for all to see. And no doubt, Theatre Team Dubbo will bring home plenty of silver in future years. Our congratulations to them all.

The city struck gold in hosting the event. This is the first time the CAT Awards have been held outside Canberra and Dubbo was chosen as the venue.

After the awards the organisers said the DRTCC and the people involved had been an “absolutely fabulous” choice.

The DRTCC, the management and staff, our local performers and all involved deserve to take a deep bow.