Best of Calgary theatre lauded virtually with Critter Awards
This year’s Calgary Theatre Critics Awards, or Critters as they are known in the industry, were presented via Facebook with Caroline Russell King, Jonathan Love and Louis B. Hobson honouring the truncated 2019/2020 professional theatre season.
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 Hobson as the then-theatre reviewer for The Calgary Sun.
Before it was disbanded as a major social event in 2017, the Critters added Jenna Shummoogum of Getdown and Rodrigo Flores of Joyful Magpies.
Critter Awards have been presented subsequently as part of the Betty Mitchell Awards, but this year, because of COVID-19, the Betty’s were put on indefinite hold, which is why the mini-critters was held virtually to thank all the artists for their continued contributions to Calgary’s theatre and arts scenes.
The Critter for outstanding touring show was given to Let’s Run Away, Daniel Mcivor’s one-man show which was created in Toronto and presented in Calgary as part of the 2020 One Yellow Rabbit High Performance Rodeo.
Vancouver-based artist Anita
Rochon received the Critter for her outstanding direction of Vertigo Theatre’s production of the classic psychological thriller Strangers on a Train.
For this year’s Critters, it was decided to forego gender distinctions in the acting categories.
The outstanding performance in a supporting role was given to Tyrell Crews for his comedic turn in Theatre Calgary’s ensemble farce Noises Off, directed by Mark Bellamy.
The Critter for outstanding performance in a lead role went to Seana Mckenna for her gender-bending version of the merchant Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, a joint production of The Shakespeare Company, Hit & Myth Productions and The University of Calgary School of Creative and Performing Arts. Brian Ball received the Critter for his highly functional set design for Rosebud Theatre’s holiday show A Christmas Story.
Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, which had its world premiere in Halifax in 2017 and was presented in Calgary by Alberta Theatre Projects, was awarded the Critter for outstanding production of a musical. Alberta Theatre Projects’ version of Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Disgraced, as directed by Nigel Shawn Williams, was awarded the Critter for outstanding production of a play.
The Critters named special lifetime achievement awards to John Murrell and Joyce Doolittle in recognition of their inestimable contributions to not only the arts scene locally, but to Canadian arts as well.
Tributes to Murrell and Doolittle, as well as acceptance notes from this year’s winners, are on the Critters Facebook page.