Fortune Theatre productions won six of the seven awards on offer, which were presented at the Fortune Theatre last week.
Veteran Dunedin actor and singing teacher Gladys Hope described the awards as ''theatrical snobbery''.
''I thought it was very exclusive, which is a shame,'' she said.
''Dunedin Operatic is every bit as professional as the Fortune is. We bring the biggest shows to Dunedin by far. Miss Saigon was world-class and it got no recognition at all.''
Dunedin Operatic Society stalwart Charles Campbell, who has been involved in Dunedin theatre for 52 years, was also aggrieved that Miss Saigon had not been considered.
''I was very surprised Miss Saigon wasn't recognised. It was a huge West End Broadway production and it was a great show,'' he said.
Globe Theatre Trust committee member Roslyn Nijenhuis said the awards were a good idea, but ''it's a very tall order trying to compare different shows''.
''Renee's Shall we Gather at the River was a very, very strong theatrical piece,'' she said.
The awards organiser, Dunedin actor and director Patrick Davies, said the awards were introduced ''to honour the best and brightest of our theatre community''.
''The awards were organised by Plan D, and had nothing to do with the Fortune Theatre,'' he said.
''I approached all the theatre providers and we said when we sent the nominations out that we weren't doing anything involved in children's theatre, musical theatre or anything to do with education.
We hope to include these categories in the awards next year,'' he said.
''The judging panel voted for what they considered were the best productions.
''The worst thing we could have done was go, `Oh, they haven't received one, so we better give them one.''
'The nominations forms said ''all productions by theatre providers in Dunedin are eligible for consideration and the winners will be selected by a panel of Dunedin theatre critics''.
Mr Davies said the judging panel was Dunedin theatre reviewers Anna Chinn, Jimmy Currin, Barbara Frame, Terry MacTavish, Sharon Matthews and Jen Aitken.
