The arts council were awarded for their design of the four Audrey II puppets used in Little Shop of Horrors. 

They received a total of three nominations this year, which included the programme design for Little Shop of Horrors and Joseph’s coat used in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. 

Horsham Arts Council’s president Simon Dandy said the creation of the four Audrey II puppets was a “monstrous effort” from Beau Ladlow and Milly Henley.

The art council had initially planned to perform Urinetown, but a man-drought forced the group to switch musicals. 

“We were doing another show that didn’t happen and changed shows very quick. Normally, we plan our shows in advance, but we had to start from scratch just three months out,” he said. 

“We haven’t created something on that scale in terms of puppetry and to make something that big in the time frame we had was amazing.” 

Mr Dandy said the council received nominations for every show it staged since 2008’s production of Cats. 

“This award is just icing on the cake for us,” he said. “If we didn’t get any recognition, we would be fine because we know how good our productions have been.

“But, this award shows that we are mixing it with our peers. We can created production that are on par with other theatre groups that are bigger than us – with people, resources and money.  

Related: 

While you’re with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox twice weekly from the Wimmera Mail-Times. To make sure you’re up-to-date with all the news from across the Wimmera, sign up below.