Arts Club and Touchstone Theatre lead winners at Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards

Casey and Diana, Burning Mom, Behind the Moon, and Yaga shared the spotlight with prizes for Bard on the Beach’s The Dark Lady, Theatre for Young Audience category’s Otosan, Small Budget dominator The Sound Inside, and much more

Clockwise from top left: Zahf Paroo (left) and Praneet Akilla in *Behind the Moon*. Photo by Chelsey Stuyt; Damien Atkins and Lindsey Angell in the Arts Club’s *Casey and Diana*. Photo by Moonrider Productions; *The Hobbit*. Photo by Chelsey Stuyt; Arghavan Jenati and Nathan Kay in *The Dark Lady*. Photo by Tim Matheson

IN ITS FIRST ceremony since 2022, the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards returned tonight to hand out prizes to several 2024-25-season productions by the Arts Club Theatre Company, Bard on the Beach, Pacific Theatre, Touchstone Theatre, and others.

Among the big winners at the ceremony held at the Arts Club’s Granville Island Stage, the Arts Club took home two major prizes in the Large Budget category for its production of the AIDS-era story Casey and Diana, with Damien Atkins winning the nod for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Dramatic Role as Thomas, and Nora McLellan winning for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Dramatic Role as Marjorie. The company also celebrated Susinn McFarlen taking honours for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Comedic Role with her acting in Burning Mom. Patrick Rizzotti and Ana Camacho won for creating Outstanding Set Design for the same production.

Elsewhere, Andrew McNee won the prize for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Comedic Role for his part as Mr. Paravicini in the Arts Club’s The Mousetrap, while the same company’s Cambodian Rock Band was named Outstanding Production of a Musical.

Bard on the Beach took other major prizes in the Large Budget category, with the nod for Outstanding Direction going to Moya O’Connell for this summer’s The Dark Lady, and Carmen Alatorre winning Outstanding Costume Design for her 1980s-inspired The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Anton Lipovetsky received honours for Outstanding Sound Design or Original Composition for Bard’s The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again].

Pacific Theatre also took home a few awards in Large Budget, with The Hobbit winning the overall Outstanding Production of a Play, as well as the Outstanding Lighting Design award for Jonathan Kim. The theatre, set to depart its aging heritage venue in the new year, also saw a Significant Artistic Achievement prize for Outstanding Achievement in Sharing an Empowering Historical Narrative go to Ins Choi: Son of a Preacherman.

Touchstone Theatre dominated the Medium Budget category, with Behind the Moon winning Outstanding Production of a Play. Also handed to that critically acclaimed production: Outstanding Direction (Lois Anderson), Outstanding Performance in a Leading Dramatic Role (Praneet Akilla), and Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Dramatic Role (Zahf Paroo). Touchstone’s Yaga also took home a bunch of prizes: Outstanding Performance in a Leading Comedic Role for Colleen Wheeler and Outstanding Set Design for Ryan Cormack.

Meanwhile, Tanja Dixon-Warren got the nod for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Comedic Role in Western Gold Theatre’s A Doll’s House, Part 2. Jessica Oostergo won top spot for costume design for The Search Party’s Dance Nation. And David Mesiha took home the prize for Outstanding Sound Design or Original Composition for SWIM, by Theatre Conspiracy and Pandemic Theatre, a show that was also recognized as a Significant Artistic Achievement for its Outstanding Innovation in Use of Technology to Create an Immersive Theatrical Experience. (It showed at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival and conjured the treacherous journey faced by asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea.)

CTORA’s West Side Story was named Outstanding Production of a Musical in the same Medium Budget category.

In the Small Budget division, all day breakfast theatre’s The Sound Inside was named Outstanding Production. It led the category, also winning for Outstanding Performance (Kerry Sandomirsky) and Outstanding Artistic Creation (director Mindy Parfitt).

Jacob Leonard and Kerry Sandomirsky in *The Sound Inside*. Photo by David Cooper

In the same category, Daniel O’Shea and Keely O’Brien’s projection design and illustration won the Outstanding Design prize for Middletown, a Sticks and Stones Theatre production. And Significant Artistic Achievement went to Niall McNeil Productions for Beauty and the Beast: My Life, recognizing its Artistic Innovation in Theatrical Form.

In the Theatre for Young Audiences category, the Outstanding Production Jessie went to Otosan, by Little Onion Puppet Co. at Gateway Theatre. The show also took home Outstanding Performance (for its ensemble Shizuka Kai, June Fukumura, Lisa Goebel, and Randi Edmundson) and Outstanding Design (by Shizuka Kai, Laura Fukumoto, Randi Edmundson, John Webber, Cindy Mochizuki, Vanka Salim, Malcolm Dow, Monica Emme, and Stephanie Elgersma). Its director, Donna Yamamoto, was recognized for Outstanding Artistic Creation.

In the same category, Giselle Clarke-Trenaman won Significant Artistic Achievement for her stage management of Presentation House Theatre’s The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

And in a separate Script Division, Ins Choi received the Jessie for Outstanding Original Script for Ins Choi: Son of a Preacherman.

Find the full list of winners here.

Featured

Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

Articles

Theatre review: At the Arts Club, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women celebrates complex bonds of sisterhood

Portrayals of the classic novel’s famously lively siblings shine brightest when all four are together onstage, capturing love for one another in quiet gestures

With fresh adaptation (a) Winter’s Tale, two well-known theatre talents launch The Ecstasy

Colleen Wheeler and Moya O’Connell have gathered a crack team of actors for micro-sized Shakespearean shows at the City Centre Artist Lodge—and this is only the beginning

Comedy review: Improv Centre’s agile cast conjures ’90s holiday TV specials in ’Tis the Sitcom

With audiences supplying the laugh track, the days of “Must-See TV” return in a different form every night, with heartfelt moments arising among hilarious period-correct details

East Van Panto: West Van Story gets an extended run thanks to overwhelming popularity

Theatre Replacement’s nearly sold-out holiday tradition continues at The Cultch’s York Theatre to January 11

Even after a century and a half, Little Women continues to capture emotions of both actors and audiences

Director Barbara Tomasic talks about the Arts Club Theatre Company’s new production of the Louisa May Alcott classic, which still inspires heartfelt reflection on sibling bonds and the challenges of finding a place in the world

Theatre review: East Van Panto: West Van Story serves up a so-Vancouver villain for the ages

Dawn Petten’s megadeveloper slays in a show with pumped-up song-and-dance numbers, subversive satire, and standout performances

Theatre review: Cue the chaos as Burnout Paradise entices an audience to pitch in together

Amid the laughter and DIY signs, Pony Cam show at The Cultch captures a world where we can’t step off the ever-racing treadmill

Holiday shows 2025: Stir’s ultimate guide to Vancouver’s merriest performances and events

The local arts and culture scene has bright gifts in store this season, from music by candlelight to wintry ballets

Joylyn Secunda plays a portal-hopping office worker in surreal solo show The Routine, November 22 and 23

At Studio 16, artist weaves mime and clown components in vignettes that explore a person’s search for the meaning of life

Theatre review: Between Breaths honours the stubborn dignity of a man devoted to saving whales

Artistic Fraud production portrays the joys and griefs of Jon Lien, a pioneering Newfoundland conservationist whose challenges included a late-life struggle with dementia

Metro Theatre hosts annual holiday pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk, December 12 to January 4, 2026

Shel Piercy directs the delightfully silly show full of colourful sets and sparkling costumes

Burnout Paradise runs its performers ragged at The Cultch, November 20 to December 7

Cheer on Pony Cam as chaotic treadmill performance captures the mad rush of life

Playwrights Pedro Chamale and Marcus Youssef joyfully throw jabs in all directions in East Van Panto: West Van Story

Duo complicates East-West rivalries and draws on everything from Shakespeare to Gen Alpha slang in a music- and dance-filled installment of the Theatre Replacement tradition

Gateway Theatre hosts holiday musical Annie, December 11 to January 3

Story follows little orphan Annie as she escapes the cruel Miss Hannigan’s rule and sets out on a search for her parents

Theatre review: Faye’s Room resists easy answers about autism and the human struggle for empathy

In this candid Glitch Theatre production, first-time playwright Alex K. Masse creates an open-hearted, often funny encounter between young neurodivergent and neurotypical co-workers

Performers and audience find bigger, brighter, braver selves in kids’ show Parents Are a Drag

Carousel Theatre for Young People brings back a hit celebration of drag that juggles song, education, dress-up, and play

Theatre review: Frozen’s wintry spell carries the magic of the Disney original

With sparkling effects and powerful performances, the Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of the beloved musical captures imaginations of young audience members

Theatre review: The Effect packs powerful doses of dark humour and difficult truth

Rumble Theatre and ITSAZOO’s sleek production of an unsettling, uncanny drama by Lucy Prebble explores our choices in a pharmaceutical-driven world

Theatre review: Festive warmth fills witty Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley

With Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, Metro Theatre offers a Pride and Prejudice sequel in which a long-overlooked member of one of literature’s most famous families finds love

Stir Q&A: Between Breaths tells the true story of a Newfoundland man who rescued over 500 whales

Artistic Fraud production at the Firehall Arts Centre centres on conservationist Jon Lien’s powerful work and eventual battle with dementia

Arts Club and Touchstone Theatre lead winners at Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards

Casey and Diana, Burning Mom, Behind the Moon, and Yaga shared the spotlight with prizes for Bard on the Beach’s The Dark Lady, Theatre for Young Audience category’s Otosan, Small Budget dominator The Sound Inside, and much more

Dance Nation traces vulnerability and narcissism of preteen competitive dancers, November 13 to 23

The Search Party’s hilariously offbeat theatre production gets a remount at the Anvil Theatre

At Chutzpah! Festival, 8 Gays of Channukah sparkles with songs and stories of togetherness in troubling times

Performers Gila Münster, Yan Simon, and Sarah Freia bring their diverse talents and individuality to a glittering celebration of queerness and representation

Stir Q&A: Dark thriller The Effect probes the crossover between authentic feelings and chemical manipulation

Presented by Rumble Theatre and ITSAZOO Productions, Lucy Prebble’s play is about two people who fall in love after testing a dopamine-regulating drug

Curious Cats serve up a fateful night of laughter and tears in The Best Restaurant in the World. Ever.

For its second production, the company turns to an expanded version of the award-winning play by Rick Dobran that became a Fringe favourite back in the days of Y2K

New from Glitch Theatre, Faye’s Room shines the spotlight on lived experiences of autism

Emerging playwright Alex K. Masse depicts challenges and changing views of neurodivergence with a story that is both deeply personal and reflective of society-wide shifts

Theatrical triple bill spotlights stories of motherhood at the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival, November 5 to 7

To Mum With Love, XO features plays by seasoned fringe artists Jonathon Paterson, Jacques Lalonde, and Jim Sands

Theatre review: CTORA conjures Roald Dahl’s playful magic in James and the Giant Peach

Imaginative puppetry and powerhouse performances embody the wicked wit and heartfelt emotion of a classic children’s tale

Gertrude and Alice is both a great love story and a look at language and the act of creation

Director Lois Anderson talks about legendary 20th-century partners Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, portrayed in a production by Western Gold Theatre in partnership with Touchstone Theatre and in association with United Players of Vancouver.