Calgary theatre awards honour reimagined tales
Theatre works that offer a fresh take on established stories earned kudos at the 2011 Betty Mitchell Awards, Calgary's annual celebration of theatrical excellence.
Several acclaimed works won multiple honours at the Mitchell gala in Calgary Monday evening.
Ghost River Theatre's ONE — a modern, gender-reversed update of the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice — was triumphant in a trio of categories, including the coveted outstanding production of a play.
Following a librarian who journeys to the underworld to save her lover, the work is presented through movement, sound, light, images and text.
The multi-disciplinary production, which has seen several incarnations play in Alberta and is currently in Toronto as part of the SummerWorks Theatre Festival, also won Mitchell Awards for its lighting and sound design.
Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allen Poe, which offers a surreal dramatization of the gothic author's life story, won outstanding production of a musical.
Nevermore, which was previously showcased as part of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad and was presented by One Yellow Rabbit, Vertigo Theatre and Catalyst Theatre, also earned a nod for its costume design.
Vertigo Theatre returned to the winner's circle for The 39 Steps — a madcap, well-received spoof of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film (and 1915 spy novel) that sees four actors juggle all the roles. It earned best direction for Mark Bellamy and a nod for actor Christopher Hunt (who shared the Mitchell Award for best actor in a comedy or musical with Paul Welch of Lunchbox Theatre's With Bells On).
Ground Zero Theatre's stripped-down presentation of Neil Labute's contemporary play Reasons To Be Pretty was a double-winner: for Patrick MacEachern's performance (actor in a drama) and its set design.
Finally, the relationship-themed musical theatre mash-up Twisted, the brainchild of Forte Musical Theatre Guild and The Bitter Suite Society, earned kudos for its musical direction (by Joe Slabe and Kris Demeanor) and for performer Allison Lynch (actress in a comedy or musical).
Other Mitchell winners include:
- New play: Mieko Ouchi, Nisei Blue, Alberta Theatre Projects.
- Actress in a drama: Esther Purves Smith, Girl In The Goldfish Bowl, Sage Theatre.
- Actress in a supporting role: Jamie Konchak, The Penelopiad, Alberta Theatre Projects.
- Actor in a supporting role: Trevor Rueger, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Theatre Calgary/Manitoba Theatre Centre.
- Choreography or fight direction: Adrian Young, Kung Fu Panties, Ground Zero Theatre/Hit & Myth Productions.
Named after a pioneer of Calgary's theatrical community, the Betty Mitchell Awards were established in 1998 to honour the achievements of Calgary's theatre scene.
