Why Charles Askenaizer’s Jeff Nomination Is Causing So Much Outrage
Credit: Alex V. Hernandez/Block Club Chicago
by Chris Peterson
When the 2026 Non-Equity Jeff nominations came out, one name in particular stopped me cold: Charles Askenaizer.
And for anyone outside Chicago, the Jeff Awards are not some random little local gold star people hand out after a nice evening at the theater. They are one of the city’s most established honors, recognizing theatrical achievement across Chicago’s professional Equity and non-Equity scenes.
The Jeff Awards say the non-Equity wing specifically honors professional productions that are not operating under union contracts, and the organization’s awards remain one of the most visible forms of recognition in Chicago theatre. So yes, a Jeff nomination means something. It carries prestige. It signals that your work is being elevated by a major institution in one of the country’s most respected theatre cities.
Which is why seeing Charles Askenaizer on that list felt so jarring.
The same Charles Askenaizer who had just been at the center of public allegations involving sexual harassment, power harassment, and targeted bullying. The same Charles Askenaizer whose alleged behavior had already sparked cast resignations at Invictus Theatre Company’s production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The same Charles Askenaizer who was connected to a situation so serious that Invictus’s leadership crisis had already become public news by the time the nominations were announced.
And somehow, there he was: nominated for Director of a Play for Angels in America. Invictus was also among the companies recognized in the 2026 Non-Equity Jeff nominations, which only made the whole thing feel even more glaring.
I’m sorry, what are we doing?
That is the question I keep coming back to, because this is one of those moments where theatre people are once again being asked to ignore what is right in front of them in favor of process, procedure, timing and technicalities. It’s the usual institutional lullaby meant to make everyone sit down, lower their voices, and stop being so inconvenient.
And yes, before someone rushes in with a laminated explanation of how awards voting works, I understand that the Jeff timeline may have been underway before all of this became public. I get that. Ballots are cast. Deadlines happen. The world does not pause because an institution failed to build flexibility into its process.
But that is not really the point, is it?
Because the second this became public, the question stopped being how did this happen and became what are you going to do about it now?
And too often in theatre, the answer to that question is some version of absolutely nothing.
That is what makes this so maddening. Not just the nomination itself, but the familiar feeling of watching the industry tense up the minute accountability becomes awkward. Theatre loves to talk about community, bravery, truth, making space, listening to artists, and protecting people.
We are a field absolutely drunk on value statements. We love a panel. We love a carefully worded Instagram graphic. We love telling everyone that this is a family.
And then, the second someone with power, status, and/or a respectable résumé is accused of causing harm, everybody suddenly starts sounding like they were written by legal.
The online backlash was immediate. Chicago theater artist and podcast host John Michael Coppola also publicly opposed Askenaizer’s nomination in a TikTok, saying that The Chicago Theater-Makers Podcast would no longer cover or promote the Jeff Awards.
At some point, Chicago theatre communities everywhere will have to decide whether they actually believe what they keep saying about safety, accountability, and protecting artists. Because you cannot spend years telling people to speak up, to come forward, to trust the community, and then turn around and keep publicly honoring the accused like the calendar matters more than the people.
Well, actually, you can, since that is what happened here.
But then you do not get to act shocked when people are outraged.
Because this nomination feels like one more reminder that in theatre, reputation still too often buys grace that ordinary people never receive. It feels like one more reminder that institutions are usually at their bravest once the danger has passed and the statements can be written in retrospect.
And I think a lot of people are done pretending that it is acceptable.