The end of every theatre season in Vancouver is capped by the festivity of the Jessie Richardson Awards. Last year was the celebration of a banner year for small and emerging companies, and the creation of exciting new works that make Vancouver, as Alexandra Gill wrote in The Globe and Mail: "one of the most vibrant independent theatre scenes in the country".
The Palace Grand received 8 Jessie Nominations:
Outstanding Production
Critics’ Choice for Innovation
Outstanding Direction: Kevin
Kerr
Outstanding Performance by a lead actor: Jonathon
Young
Outstanding Artistic Achievement in Video Design: David
Hudgins
Outstanding Artistic Set Design: John Webber & Jonathon
Young
Outstanding Lighting Design: John Webber
Outstanding Sound Design: Kevin
Kerr
And received 3 Jessie Awards for:
Outstanding Performance by a lead actor: Jonathon
Young
Outstanding Artistic Set Design: John Webber & Jonathon
Young
Outstanding Lighting Design: John Webber
Congratulations to Jonathon & John and to all the talented & dedicated team!
Read more about The Palace Grand.
Past Awards
Winner of 27 Jessie Richardson Awards for Excellence in Theatre including:
- Four for Best Production (Brilliant!, The Score, The One That Got Away & The Fall)
- Two for Best Original Script (Brilliant! & The Score)
- Two for Best Direction (Kim Collier, The Score & The One That Got Away)
- Outstanding Emerging Director (2000, Kim Collier)
- Outstanding Performance by a lead actor (The Palace Grand - 2004, Jonathon Young)
Winner of the Alcan Performing Arts Award – the first of its kind cash award for the creation of a new project (Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands)
The Palace Grand Audience Feedback
Very intense. Incredible ideas… wonderful flexibility from actor… great emotion
Absolutely amazed that one man on stage for an hour not saying anything could make me laugh cry and get completely lost in a wonderful story. Use of video was wonderful. Thank you so much!
Fantastic! Brilliant! I’d show up to see you guys interpret the phone book. Thank you!
Just about everything in this show doesn’t work. Only one image of the writing wrapping around his head was original and interesting. Two minutes out of 65! Terrible, terrible, terrible
Truly inspiring work – what amazing images and phenomenal physical work. I admire the courage and vision that your company instills in our community.
From Colin Thomas, Georgia Straight:
It’s no exaggeration to say that Young moves with the grace
and precision of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.
From Peter Birnie, Vancouver Sun:
In a fantasy world where new Canadian productions were handed a
chance to be reworked, The Palace Grand would evolve into a truly astonishing
piece of physical theatre.
From Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver Courier:
It’s a simple story, really, but the always-innovative Electric
Company finds gold in that thar tundra.
From Alan Hindle, Terminal City:
… I am so inspired by this show I have vowed to create a play
myself…
The Fall Audience Feedback
“The absolutely most brilliant piece of theatre I’ve seen in Vancouver. Brilliant!” K Murphy
“all in all – great show. Maybe next time it might be worth working on a longer time – six weeks obviously was not enough to think some things through.”
“Constant Goosebumps… Parallels to current affairs… Horror… Well Done!”
“What a wonderful treat visiting from a small community – you were superb!! Creepy but so good – thank you, best of luck to you all!” Kari – Homer, Alaska
“Incredibly exciting, very dangerous (edgy) the best thing I have seen in years!, fabulous use of space”
“Excellent loved it! Great multimedia and audience involvement, lots of action, never a dull moment.”
“I dream of a time when the world can be like you. Facing Reality and being critical of life at a critical time on the verge of unsustainable extinction. This play should be seen around the world now!” Raul
“Genius – Deep. Dark, surreal, lucid and tactile truth. Thank you for enveloping me in the best theatre I’ve ever experienced”
“Brilliant! I have not been so well entertained in a long time. I look forward to future productions.”
“Very innovative, a little lost on the final concept of “sacrifice’- wasn’t it revenge?”
“…all in all a great show, maybe next time it might be worth working on a longer time – six weeks obviously was not enough to think some things through.”
“…loved the Greek chorus turned girl guide lynch mob!”
“I can’t wipe the grin all my face. My cheeks hurt! The spectacle is amazing.” Maureen S.
“WOW! WOW! WOW! MORE! MORE! MORE! Eyes wide, Horror, Valour! Please Please do More!”
The Fall Press Quotes From Colin Thomas, Georgia Straight:
“If you want to take an exhilarating swim in the creative juices that are cascading through the Vancouver theatre scene right now, dive into the delights of The Fall.”
“The vitality of the vision makes the event an extraordinary pleasure.”
“It’s a miracle that the Electric Company put this spectacle together in five weeks”
From Peter Birnie, Vancouver Sun:
“I wish I had the space these people do in order to credit everyone involved in this marvelous machine of creativity.”
“This is a fully functioning factory of fun.”
“The Electric Company’s vaunted approach to creating theatre in unexpected places is taken to new heights and depths in The Fall. The result is a two-act treat that’s hip, hilarious and yes, even occasionally outright horrifying.”
From Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver Courier:
“The Fall is packed with such stuff: smart, funny, physical, surprising, inventive and, if you want to get serious, it even encourages thoughts on society and scapegoats.”
From Leanne Campbell, The Westender:
“Once again the collective writers of The Electric Company have sprouted light bulbs over their heads. Watching their latest piece, The Fall, you can sense the excitement that they must have felt when they were given 600,000 square cubic feet of warehouse space to play in.”
“The Fall becomes one of those productions that will be talked about for years to come.”
From Penelope Mulligan, Discorder:
“Collier’s vision was enormous and I can’t imagine it being realized more fully.”
“…without a doubt, the most cinematic live theatre experience I’ve ever had.”
“The year’s top three list starts here.”
Press Quotes
“Theatrical magic”
— Globe and Mail
“A spectacle that combines more ideas and more theatrical
innovation than many companies cram into an entire season”
— Georgia Straight
“Dizzying theatrical vocabulary”
— Georgia Straight
“This is a group to watch”
— Globe and Mail
“Special Jessies should be invented for most theatrical
production and best use of space”
— Georgia Straight
“The artists... have raised the bar for themselves. And
for everybody else”
— Georgia Straight
“This is an all-out orgy of sight and sound”
— Vancouver Courier
“One thing the Electric Company has done well... is to push
the boundaries literally out of the confines of the traditional theatrical
setting”
— Westender
“Richly imaginative”
— Westender
“You’ll be amazed how often you’re amazed”
— Georgia Straight
Flop Fan Mail
"If the risks taken are a measure of a company's worth, the Electric Company's shares are rocketing." Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver Courier
"an hour and 45 minutes of witty, polished performance seldom passes as entertainingly as this show from the extraordinarily inventive minds of this young company." Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver Courier
"At times I felt I was watching the adventures of Buster
Keaton, at others the angst of Samuel Beckett. Ultimately, I left the Cultch
feeling I might be in some vibrantly artistic European city like Paris or
Prague, not little old Vancouver" ..."If you are not already looking
out for the Electric Company, you should be." Martin Millerchip,
North Shore News
Read more about The Flop.