Haunted Hillbilly named best Montreal stage show

Haunted Hillbilly, the quirky musical concocted by fledgling theatre company SideMart Theatrical Grocery, has been declared best production in the Montreal English Critics Circle Awards.

The winners of the MECCAs, awards for Montreal's English-language theatre, were announced Monday evening.

Haunted Hillbilly, the story of a country singer who has sold his soul to a blood-sucking vampire, took home two awards — best production and best director for Andrew Shaver.

Written by Graham Cuthbertson with music by Matthew Barber, the musical strikes a balance between humour and weirdness and was one of the first created by SideMart, in 2008. It was remounted with new songs and costumers in full-scale production in Montreal this year.

The other big MECCA winner was A Line in the Sand by Tableau d'Hôte Theatre, which won best set design, best actor for Chip Chuipka and best actress for Glenda Braganza.

Written by Guillermo Verdecchia and Marcus Youssef, A Line in the Sand is set against Operation Desert Shield and follows the friendship between a Canadian soldier and a teenaged black-marketeer during the 1990-91 conflict.

Other MECCA winners:

• Best text: A tie between Amy Lee Lavoie's Rabbit, Rabbit and Johanna Nutter's My Pregnant Brother.
• Best ensemble: My Christmas in New York, Le Nouveau Théâtre Saint-Catherine.
• Best visiting production: Icaro, Daniele Finzi Pasca.
• Best costume design: Catherine Allan, Holly Gauthier-Frankel, Paul Van Dyck for Miss Sugarpuss Must Die.
• Best lighting: Eric Mongerson, Swan Song of Maria, Black Theatre Workshop.
• Best sound: Benoit Brunet-Poirier, 4.48 Psychosis, Theatre in Actu.