THE countdown has begun to next year’s Wales Theatre Awards,(WTAs), which will be held in Newport for the first time.

The annual event will take place at The Riverfront on January 27, 2018, and the South Wales Argus will be one of the show’s many partners.

Billed as the celebration of the best in theatre, opera and dance from across the nation, the ceremony will present winners with coveted trophies while offering an evening of entertainment for some of Wales’ finest new and established performers.

New to the event this year will be awards recognising the challenges of creating touring shows, which are described as “the lifeblood of the arts in Wales”.

There is also a new award called ‘Wales and the World’ to recognise an artist from Wales whose work has been notable further afield.

Director Mike Smith said: “Critics across Wales will be making up their minds about what shows, writers, individual artists and companies to nominate for the 2018 awards.

“Once all the nominations have been made, small groups of judges will then have the incredibly difficult task of selecting shortlists and ultimately the winners for each category from these nominations.

“There will also be free entertainment at The Riverfront before the glittering awards show. It is also a great night out with entertainment and there are always more than one or two surprises.”

The awards will recognise the variety of work done by all members of the theatrical community in Wales, whatever the size, language or discipline of the companies involved.

They also take into account the contribution of arts writers and critics.

Nominators include most of Wales’ best-known professional critics along with new writers, students and bloggers working in English and in Welsh.

Mr Smith added: “What sets the WTAs apart is the diverse range of work that our critics see and nominate, and this means our past winners have not only been large scale works from large companies but also small-scale shows and edgy new works that are frequently overlooked (if seen at all) in other award schemes.

“There is also no cost to take part and it is purely up to the critics to choose what is put forward for consideration.”

Critics who would still like to nominate can email walestheatreawards@gmail.com to be sent the nominations form. All nominating critics are invited to the show. Nominations close December 15.

A limited number of tickets are available to purchase at tickets.newportlive.co.uk