Finding Balance in Performance Awards
There are few topics more divisive in theatre than the presentation of awards for performance, technical elements, or productions. Over time I’ve noticed that whether it’s a local awards show, the High School Musical Theatre Awards, or The Tony’s, many theatre-makers seem to have trouble finding the gray area when it comes to awards. As a director, I’ve won an award, been nominated and lost, and directed a number of shows which garnered no nominations at all. With many awards seasons kicking off, let’s take a closer look at the complexity of artistic awards.
I see the theatre community broken into a few different categories. First, there are the “true believers.” These people believe that awards are an exact direct reflection of how successful a show or performance was. They think that all great performances earn nominations, those not nominated didn’t do as well, and the best nominee always wins. This logic doesn’t follow, as art is, by definition, subjective. Different awards organizations have different processes and criteria by which they judge. The judges adjudicating one show may not have seen any other shows in the same category. And judges are human; maybe they had a bad day before they arrived to the performance, or perhaps the show had a particularly rough run the day they were there.
Because of their stance, the “true believers” often put too much emphasis on awards. I’ve seen directors make decisions based on what they think “the judges will like.” I’ve had actors in my shows approach me after not being nominated, in tears, apologizing for letting me down. I had to explain that the result of an award would never let me down as they are entirely out of the control of those being adjudicated. The opinion of judges would never impact my amount of pride in a show or an actor’s performance. If you stood by your performance when the show opened, there’s no reason you should feel less confident in what you did just because it wasn’t officially recognized. The only thing worse than seeing someone with a crushed ego six months after a show closed because they didn’t receive an award is seeing someone with an obnoxiously inflated ego because they did.
Another group I see in the community is the “awards are stupid” camp. These folks loudly and proudly state how irrelevant they view performance awards and perhaps even feel it makes the art itself less valuable. I’ve heard things from people in this camp like, “I don’t understand why you care; I worked at this company long before we won any awards” or “It’s all rigged anyway” or even “It literally means nothing; it’s just doesn’t matter.”
But it does matter. It matters because it matters. While we’ve established that an award or nomination isn’t always a direct reflection of the job you did, the perception of winning can be incredibly impactful. I definitively owe several directing opportunities to an award I won early in my career. Actors throughout the community saw that show’s positive reception, and there was a significant uptick in our company’s audition pool. I have “award winner” and “nominee” on my resume, things that have been brought up in interviews and auditions years later.
There’s also the reality that it feels great to be recognized tangibly. We all work so hard to make quality art, and while we may receive applause or compliments in return, nothing is as tangible as a literal trophy you can take home that says you did a great job. No one’s perception of your show or performance can take away the fact that you were officially deemed a nominee or winner. There’s no need for anyone to rain on the parades of folks celebrating the tangible recognition and genuine impact an award or nomination may give them.
It’s perfectly acceptable to find joy in being recognized, but you shouldn’t only find joy from being recognized. Have faith in your art when you present it; don’t wait for judges to tell you how well you did. Take the award systems your productions are eligible for at face value or choose not to participate. No system will be perfect, and art will never be objective, but I absolutely find value in participating in the recognition and celebration of theatrical productions in my community.