Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards are back after a two-year-plus pause

Among other shifts, the November 3 ceremony will hand out prizes for companies of three sizes: large, medium, and small

The Jessies will return to the Granville Island Stage where the awards got their early beginnings.

THEY’RE BACK: After a years-long hiatus, the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards are back to mark 40 years on November 3.

The celebration of local theatre artistry at companies big, medium, and small will take place at the Granville Island Stage where some of the early ceremonies were held.

The last ceremony was put on hold after its online-only ceremony in 2022, citing a lack of engagement and involvement by the theatre community on its juries, committees, and board—particularly from diverse or underrepresented communities. The board had also suspended the awards during the 2020-21 pandemic year, due to closures of theatres.

In an acting president’s message in July, Jocelyn Pitsch outlined several new initiatives after lengthy community consultation. The awards now have three budgetary categories (large, medium, and small companies) instead of its former two, “in order to try and level the playing field between companies and ensure that early career artists or new companies and collectives can receive the professional boost that come from Jessie nominations and awards”, she said. It has also launched an inclusivity fund for jurors so they’re not prevented by financial barriers from seeing shows.

The Jessies’ nonprofit society had been formed in 1997 and took over the production of the awards ceremony from the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance, who had presented it since the early 1980s.

This year’s ceremony, coproduced by Arturo Del Rio Bello and David C. Jones, will give awards for the 2024-25 season, with details out in coming weeks.

For full event information visit www.jessieawards.com.

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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.

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