Critics’ Choice Spotlight Awards for 2010/2011 – Who’s Afraid of Picking Winners?

Posted on 29 December 2011 Performing Arts, Theatre

Critics’ Choice Spotlight Awards for 2010/2011
Who’s Afraid of Picking Winners?

How quickly a decade can pass. Why, it seems only yesterday a curmudgeonly cabal of cagey critics crept into the Bengal Room at the Empress Hotel to sip champagne and quip bon mots while musing over the best and brightest of the local theatre scene.

“I say, chaps,” former CBC Radio theatre critic Robert Mitchell said while swishing his swizzle stick. “Dash it all, why not put credit where it’s due and offer our own local theatre awards? Between us we see almost everything in town, and I’m sure the local players could use a bit of a morale boost in these tough times.”

Just at that moment, a hush fell over the room and a spotlight brightened our table as the jazz combo lit into a swinging rendition of Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It.” “Indeed,” Times Colonist critic Adrian Chamberlain mused mightily from beneath his mammoth moustache. “Let’s do do it!” And from somewhere beneath the table came the muffled sound of then-Monday Magazine critic John Threlfall’s hearty agreement. “Hear, hear!” he cried while searching for his missing monocle. “No wait, it’s here . . . no, here.” And so it was that Victoria’s annual Critics’ Choice Spotlight Awards were born.

Okay, so it wasn’t really like that at all; as with the best theatre, illusion is often more interesting than reality. The truth of it all involved a flurry of emails, a few haggle-heavy meetings and a lack of any actual award to present—and in that regard, little has changed over the past decade. True, some of the names and media outlets have shifted, but there’s still plenty of haggling and no actual Spotlight award to offer . . . but that hasn’t stopped us from collectively coming up with our top theatrical picks each year for the past 10 years.

This year’s critics include Adrian Chamberlain (Times Colonist), David Lennam and Monica Prendergast (CBC Radio), John Threlfall and Chris Felling (CVV Magazine, formerly Culture Vulture Victoria), and Amanda Farrell-Low (representing Monday Magazine for the bulk of the season). The awards in question run from September 2010 to Fringe 2011, so all you fans of Mary’s Wedding, And Slowly Beauty… or A Day in the Death of Joe Egg will just have to wait until next year to honour those shows.

Were there any shoe-ins this year? Absolutely. Atomic Vaudeville’s Ride The Cyclone was a top pick—even though it was a revamped remount—with Chamberlain saying it was “hands down” the winner in the Musical category, and Farrell-Low calling it “excellent—such an improvement on all the previous iterations.”

Another clear standout with one and all was Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Blue Bridge has been a frequent presence in the winner’s circle since their debut three seasons back, and this year was no exception. Prendergast describes this as “one of the biggest risks of last season, but it paid off.” Felling agrees, simply saying, “Give Brian Richmond what he deserves for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?—please.” And all were wowed by the local stage debut of screen actress Meg Tilly. Prendergast described it as “impressive work in one of the toughest roles for a woman out there,” with Felling saying, “Just give this to her already.” For his part, Lennam says it “it’s a travesty if she doesn’t get this one.”

On the community front, Farrell-Low notes that UVic’s Phoenix had a generally strong season, describing their swinging ’60s take on Twelfth Night as “one of the best things I’d seen at UVic in quite some time.” Lennam agrees, calling both Twelfth Night and Phoenix’s world premiere of Daniel MacIvor’s new play Inside as “both absolutely superb and from complete opposites of the spectrum.” Forced to choose, he came down on the side of Shakespeare and director Linda Hardy, calling her Twelfth Night “the best I’ve seen—full of new ideas and staging.”

With no further ado, here are the winners of the 2011 Critics’ Choice Spotlight Awards. Congratulations to all our local players, whether they made this list or not. For valiantly carrying on in the face of economic uncertainty and brightening our lives with your theatrical offerings, we offer you all a collective standing ovation!

—John Threlfall
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The Tenth Annual Critics’ Choice Spotlight Awards!
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