Muriel’s Wedding the Musical was honoured with two awards at the Australian Writers’ Guild’s AWGIE Awards last night in Sydney, with writer PJ Hogan receiving the Music Theatre Award and the 2018 David Williamson Prize. The David Williamson Prize is awarded each year to the most outstanding script selected from the winners of the four theatre categories, and is worth $100,000. $20,000 of the Prize is awarded to the playwright of the winning theatre script, while $80,000 goes to the theatre company that commissioned and developed the work – in this case Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures – with the express purpose of commissioning, developing and programming a new Australian work.

Muriel’s Wedding the Musical. Photo © Lisa Tomasetti

The theatrical version of PJ Hogan’s iconic Australian film, adapted by the writer himself, was already the recipient of five Helpmann Awards and seven Sydney Theatre Awards – not to mention a five star review from Limelight. With music and lyrics by Australian award-winning songwriters Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall, and additional songs by the much-loved band ABBA, the musical was one of the highlights of Sydney’s theatre scene in 2017.

Co-producer...