Clean/Espejos, Bunny, Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer, and more take top prizes in final Jessie Awards—at least for a while
Other winners include Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls and Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
Clean/Espejos. Photo by Murray Mitchell
Bunny. Photo by Emily Cooper
NEWORLD THEATRE’s bilingual Clean/Espejos, written by Vancouver playwright Christine Quintana, won the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award tonight for outstanding production in the large-budget category.
The critically acclaimed play, presented at the Cultch, told the story of two women from different sides of a Mexican resort, and was performed in both English and Spanish to fully capture those two points of view. The show also took home Outstanding Performance in a Leading Dramatic Role, for actor Alexandra Lainfiesta, and Outstanding Direction for Daniela Atiencia and Chelsea Haberlin.
In the small-budget category, The Search Party’s Bunny, by Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch, won top prize for best overall small-theatre production. Emma Slipp took home Outstanding Performance in a Leading Dramatic or Comedic Role, Mindy Parfitt won for her direction of the play, and Jessica Oostergo got the nod for costume design for the show.
Meanwhile, the Arts Club Theatre Company received the prize for Outstanding Musical for last holiday season’s Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol. The show also received nods including best lighting design (Parjad Sharifi) and best costume design (Carmen Alatorre).
The Jessie Awards ceremony, which had been held in pre-pandemic times at the Bard on the Beach tent and the Commodore Ballroom, felt like a flashback to shutdown times, held as it was via Zoom—many entire, cheering production casts and crews gathering together to tune in by screen.
Due to the pandemic, there were no Jessie Awards in 2021—and this 2022 version could be the last one for a while, or possibly forever. In a statement posted on its website and social media in April, the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards board said the event, now in its 39th year, would take a hiatus due to a lack of involvement, especially from diverse members of the local stage scene. Over the course of the evening, board members made pleas for the community to step up and help chart a fresh course for the longtime organization.
Other notable prizes tonight included Kevin Loring’s win for writing the outstanding original script: Savage Society and Belfry Theatre’s Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer, which played at the York Theatre here in Vancouver.
“This play only took me 20 fucking years to write,” the now-Ottawa-based playwright quipped. “The play started out at Studio 58 when I was a student and it took me this long to take it to a professional stage.”
Along with White Noise at the Firehall Arts Centre, Little Red Warrior also received the award for Significant Artistic Achievement: Outstanding Empowering and Uplifting of Indigenous Artists and Narratives.
The theatre-for-young-people award was another emotional moment, as Carousel Theatre for Young People won for its production of Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls—Vancouver theatre artist Dave Deveau’s play that follows the story of nine-year-old Fiona, who comes out as a boy and wants to be called Fin. “To see families with trans kids and kids who have trans parents come see the show made it even more worthwhile,” Deveau reflected during the awards ceremony. Shizuka Kai won a prize for its design, Jennica Grienke won for Outstanding Artistic Creation: Direction of the same show, and Angelica Schwarts received the nod for Significant Artistic Achievement: Assistant Direction, Gender Consultation.
Also noteworthy in the wake of this pandemic-hampered year, the Emerging Division did not stand for the 2021-22 Jessie Awards season; the jury made the move due to such a small number of eligible productions.
Amid the special prizes, the frank theatre’s Fay Nass won the Vancouver NOW Representation and Inclusion Award, Himmat playwright Gavan Cheema won the Sam Payne Award, Joey Lespérance won the John Moffat & Larry Lillo Award, and White Noise by the late Taran Kootenhayoo won the Sydney Risk Award.
Actor Farren Timoteo received the prize for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Comedic Role for Made in Italy, which returns to the Arts Club Theatre’s Granville Island Stage later this summer. And Ruby Slippers Theatre’s we the same earned two awards in the small-budget category: Significant Artistic Achievement: Outstanding Video Design for Chimerik 似不像 and Outstanding Lighting Design for Sophie Tang.
Many award recipients acknowledged the arduousness of the past few years. In fact, the pandemic meant that several companies were absent from the awards nominations—including Bard on the Beach, which had to cancel its fest entirely last year.
As Loring aptly put it: “My hands go up to anyone who tried to do anything live in front of an audience this year, and the last two-and-a-half years.”
You can find the complete list of winners here.
Related Articles
