Every year Vancouver’s theatre community gathers to recognise the hard work of its members at the Jessies. For its 36th year, the ceremony was held at the scenic Bard on the Beach Main Stage. It was wonderful to see our city’s best thespians and production units in their finery- no costumes, no characters, just being themselves and supporting each other rambunctiously.
The awards were divided into three categories: Small Stage, Large Stage and Theatre for Young Audiences, to cover as much of Vancouver’s theatre landscape as possible. Arts Club productions mostly dominated the winner’s list along with Neworld Theatre and Green Thumb Theatre productions but the biggest surprise of the evening was Rumble Theatre’s winning entry “The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius” which also gave us the evening’s most tongue in cheek acceptance speeches. Rohit Chokhani who was recognised for championing diversity in theatre gave a memorable speech that was interrupted by an All Lives Matter type of guy while Parmiss Sehat tripped on the stairs on her way down to the stage and charmingly took it in her stride, much like Genevieve Fleming, Most Promising New Director Winner, who ran in a hurry from the washroom after her award was announced. “The Shipment”‘s all Black cast joined Omari Newton as he was honoured and Neworld’s best ensemble cast win for “King Arthur’s Night” saw heartfelt speeches by the production’s amazing Autistic actors.
It is clear that inclusion and diversity are on Vancouver’s theatre community’s minds and judging from the winners this year this was certainly the case. We did notice however that many of the shows we loved last year didn’t make the cut and wondered whether these shows aren’t reaching the Jessies’ jury. It was mostly a handful of productions that covered all the nominations. The nominations would benefit greatly from casting a wider net next year because there are some absolutely phenomenal productions gracing Vancouver’s stages all year round.
All in all, the Jessies celebrated the creativity of a thriving theatre community in a city with a long history of supporting the arts.
Here is a complete list of winners!
Small Theatre
Outstanding Performance by an Actor
Omari Newton – The Shipment – SpeakEasy Theatre
Outstanding Performance by an Actress
Shayna Jones – Ruined – Dark Glass Theatre
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble
Sarah Afful, Peter Anderson, Craig Erickson, Pippa Mackie, Naomi Wright – The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius – Rumble Theatre
Outstanding Lighting Design
Sophie Tang – The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius – Rumble Theatre
Outstanding Set Design
Drew Facey – The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius – Rumble Theatre
Outstanding Costume Design
Drew Facey – The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius – Rumble Theatre
Outstanding Sound Design or Original Composition
Daniel Deorksen & Kurt Schindelka – A Steady Rain – Seven Tyrants Theatre
Outstanding Direction
Stephen Drover – The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius – Rumble Theatre
Outstanding Production
The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius – Rumble Theatre
Significant Artistic Achievement
Tetsuro Shigematsu, Jamie Nesbitt & Susan Miyagishima – 1 Hour Photo – Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre – Outstanding technical design and execution for the purpose of historical storytelling
Jabber
Large Theatre
Outstanding Performance by an Actor
Andrew McNee – Misery – Arts Club Theatre Company
Outstanding Performance by an Actress
Lucia Frangione – Misery – Arts Club Theatre Company
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble
Amber Funk Barton, Andrew Gordon, Nathan Kay, Tiffany King, Billy Marchenski, Niall McNeill, Lucy McNulty, Kerry Sandomirsky, Matthew Tom-Wing, Marcus Youssef and Lucy Cairns – King Arthur’s Night – Neworld Theatre
Outstanding Lighting Design
Jeff Harrison – Hand to God – Arts Club Theatre Company
Outstanding Set Design
Lauchlin Johnston – Misery – Arts Club Theatre Company
Outstanding Costume Design
Christine Reimer – Much Ado About Nothing – Bard on the Beach
Outstanding Sound Design or Original Composition
Torquil Campbell and Alessandro Juliani – Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika – Arts Club Theatre Company
Georgia Straight Outstanding Direction
Stephen Drover – Hand to God – Arts Club Theatre Company
Outstanding Production
Outside Mullingar – Pacific Theatre
Significant Artistic Achievement
Jeny Cassady – Hand to God – Outstanding Puppet Design and Coaching – Arts Club Theatre Company
Theatre for Young Audiences
Outstanding Performance
Parmiss Sehat – Jabber – Green Thumb Theatre and Neworld Theatre
Outstanding Design
Shizuka Kai, Joel Grinke, and Mishelle Cuttler – Set/Projection/Sound – Jabber – Green Thumb Theatre and Neworld Theatre
Outstanding Artistic Creation
Chelsea Haberlin – Directing – Jabber – Green Thumb Theatre and Neworld
Theatre Outstanding Production
The Code – Green Thumb Theatre
Significant Artistic Achievement
Green Thumb Theatre – The Code – Outstanding Artistic Achievement for exceptional presentation of contemporary, far reaching teen issues
Additional Awards
Outstanding Original Script
Jovanni Sy – Nine Dragons – Vertigo Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Gateway Theatre
Critic’s Choice Innovation Award
Japanese Problem – Universal Limited and Multiple Organism – Mind of a Snail
Vancouver Now Representation and Inclusion Award
Rohit Chokhani
Patron of the Arts Award
Bonnie Mah
Mary Phillips Prize for Behind the Scenes Achievement
Ruth McIntosh
Sam Payne Award for the Most Promising Newcomer
Tai Amy Grauman
John Moffat & Larry Lilo Prize
John Patterson
GVPTA Career Achievement Award
John Wright
Sydney Risk Prize
Rachel Aberle
Colin Campbell Award for Excellence in Technical Theatre
Bruce Kennedy
Ray Michal Prize for Most Promising New Director
Genevieve Fleming
Gordon Armstrong Playwright & Rent Award
Devon More
– Prachi Kamble