TPS Theatre Award Panel Missing Two of Seattle's Biggest Theatre Names

Back in late July, I got an email from Theater Puget Sound inviting me to take part in the nomination process for the first TPS Awards for achievement in theatre in Seattle and the greater Puget Sound, to be named in honor of Gregory A. Falls. Along with as many as a reported 24 other "critics" (and yes, I use the term loosely, at least directed at myself), I nominated at least three people or organizations for the six different awards: best actor, actress, production, and director, as well as an outstanding theatre organization and a "person to watch."

Gregory A. Falls, the new TPS Awards' namesake.

Anyway, I dutifully submitted my nominees after going back through all my reviews at Seattlest (as well as everyone else's there, around 70 or maybe more) from Aug. '08 through Aug. '09. Nominations were due by end of August. After that, I was told, ballots would be mailed to TPS members to vote (not being one, I have no idea who the nominees actually are) to be submitted in time for the award show, at the Intiman Theatre on Oct. 19. The point is, last night I finally noticed a web page on the awards on the TPS site, and got my first chance to see who else served as a nominator with me.

The first interesting thing to note is the relative weight of web-based critics. Two of the writers at The Broadway Hour (a project of some theatre students at Seattle Univ.) were nominators, as well as the Examiner's Rosemary Jones, SeattleActor.com's Jerry Kraft, and TheatreMania's local correspondent, Miryam Gordon. The Post-Globe's Gianni Truzzi was a nominator as well, based on his prior work at the P-I (I assume, seeing as how he's only written 13 stories as the Post-Globe theatre critic). Among the print critics were the Times's second-string critic Nancy Worssam, Seattle Weekly's Gavin Borchert and Kevin Phinney, and Seattle Metropolitan's arts editor, Steve Wiecking.

But at least as interesting as the names on the list were the two that weren't: Misha Barson and Brendan Kiley. Misha Berson is the main critic for The Seattle Times, our last print daily, which makes her a big name by default. In practice, I think most theatre people care about her about as much as me or anyone else, which is to say, not much. It's Kiley's absence that's the big deal.

Ninety percent of theatre people in town will start any discussion of Kiley by badmouthing him, but even so, that's an acknowledgment of the level of respect he enjoys, and it's well earned. Yes, he can be harsh (though rarely wrong), but he's also one of the few critics in town who makes an effort--and it's a lot of effort--to see and promote worthy emerging artists. He's also generally regarded as the last full-time theatre writer in the city (with the possible exception of Berson), in other words, the last person with the resources to really get the job done. And at The Stranger, he has a bigger platform than any of us to help promote up-and-coming artists.

So his absence creates the impression--right or wrong--that a huge swath of Seattle theatre wasn't even eligible because the nominators haven't seen it. Even a cursory check of most of the others critics' reviews reveals a preference for the big shows at the regional theatres, with a smattering of mid-level companies. I've seen a fair number of small shows, but I wouldn't call it exhaustive. Solo performance, to throw out one underserved example, particularly that organized by Unicycle Collective, has been excellent over the last year, but the chances even three or four of the 18 listed nominators saw any one of their shows is low.

Forced to make a guess, I would assume that Kiley's absence from the list probably has something to do with The Stranger's Genius Awards (or possibly because he just dislikes TPS), which not only enjoy more prestige but come with a healthy dollop of cash, dumped on frequently young, emerging talents who lack major institutional support. As I recall, Wynne Greenwood actually said that winning the award after a dry-spell was actually what let her continue making art at all.

In practice, for most awards it wouldn't make a difference. Not only would Kiley's vote theoretically carry the same weight as everyone else's, but best actor, actress, and production will most certainly go to people at the big theatres with resources. (Smart money is on at least one award going to someone attached to NCTC). But at least the "person to watch" award should be awarded to someone coming out of the small theatres. If an artist is already working at the regionals, he or she's already emerged. And as for outstanding theatre company, there's a lot of small theatres doing great work and making an effort to help support emerging artists as well as branching out to develop and serve new audiences, which should at least be taken into consideration.