THE RETURN OF THE CRITTER AWARD
Critics to present their pick at this year’s Bettys gala
It was an offer too good to refuse.
The Betty Mitchell Awards committee asked if Calgary theatre critics would reunite and present one of our Critter awards at the 21st Bettys gala on June 25 at Vertigo Theatre.
The Critters were created in 2012 by Jessica Goldman of Applause Meter and CBC Eyeopener, Stephen Hunt and Bob Clark of the Calgary Herald and myself as the theatre reviewer for The Calgary Sun. We eventually added Jenna Shummoogum of GetDown and Rodrigo Flores of Joyful Magpies.
We had a great run for five years, but then Bob retired, Stephen left The Herald, Jessica moved to Houston and Rodrigo returned to the Maritimes.
Stephen, Jenna and I have continued to review in the theatre scene and Jonathan Love has taken up the gauntlet at CBC Eyeopener, which is what prompted the Betty Mitchell Awards committee to suggest we make a comeback.
When it came to determining our award criteria, they gave us carte blanche so off we headed to the Kensington Pub and, for three hours, rehashed the 2017/2018 theatre season over nachos and drinks.
What we came up with is a bit of a dog ’s breakfast and a list that we hope shows how exciting, innovative and daring theatre in Calgary continues to be.
We have seven nominees for a 2018 Critter Award:
We feel Lucian-River Mirage Chauhan, who starred as the wheelchair-bound boy in Theatre Calgary’s The Secret Garden, deserves to be singled out. Last season, he starred as the young Prince Edward in ATP’s The Last Wife. These are major roles being carried on such little shoulders as Chauhan is not even nine years old. I bumped into Chauhan at the Calgary Performing Arts Festival awards night, which I hosted, and he said he could hardly wait to turn 10 so he could start auditioning for StoryBook shows.
We want to recognize what Craig Hall is doing at Vertigo Theatre with his commitment to the development of new works such as Jovanni Sy’s Nine Dragons. As Jenna points out, Nine Dragons is a step toward addressing a lack of diversity of stories being told on stage and one that features actors of colour.
Veda Hille’s original music for the touring production of Onegin, which played at Theatre Calgary for the High Performance Rodeo, is a remarkable achievement. Jonathan describes her score as a punk-infused blending of traditional folk songs and Tchaikovsky’s operatic motifs, resulting in a Russian Moulin Rouge.
In the past, collaborators JP Thibodeau and Joe Slabe have given us such hit musicals as Touch Me: Songs for a (Dis) connected Age and the four Naughty but Nice! holiday shows, but this year they topped themselves with The Urban Jungle Book — a contemporary retelling of Rudyard Kipling ’s classic tale which enthralled adults and youngsters alike.
For Downstage Theatre’s Extremophiles, sound designers Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett were given a seemingly impossible task. They had to create a whale child and then give it language. Their magic also included a spectacular sun sculpture helping to make the absurd seem possible.
Jamie Dunsdon staged the drama Blackbird, David Harrower’s chilling look at the twisted emotions and devastating effect of a relationship between an adult male and a 12-year-old girl. The story was told with unflinching honesty but it is the direction Dunsdon is taking Verb Theatre that continues to impress us. She takes chances, push es envelopes and challenges her audiences.
Vertigo Theatre’s Sherlock Holmes and the American Problem is a shining example of what happens when all the finest elements of theatre come together in one production.
The clever staging, outstanding ensemble acting, innovative set, sound and costume designs worked together like a precision timepiece.