Jeff Awards Suspend Non-Equity Awards Consideration Amid Chicago Theatre Backlash

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

by Chris Peterson

The Jeff Awards announced Tuesday that they are pausing all Non-Equity awards consideration for productions opening on or after June 1, 2026, while the organization continues reviewing its policies and procedures.

The decision follows weeks of backlash after the Non-Equity ceremony in March, where Charles Askenaizer won Best Director for Angels in America amid allegations connected to a past production. He has denied the allegations. In the weeks after the ceremony, more than a dozen Chicago theatre companies publicly cut ties with the Jeff Awards, citing Askenaizer’s win and broader concerns about the organization’s judging practices.

So, yes, this is a significant move. It is also hard to look at this and not think: good. Finally.

Because for anyone who has been following what has happened with the Jeff Awards over the past few months, this pause did not come out of nowhere. The Askenaizer controversy may have been the match, but the room had clearly been filling with gas for a while. It had been previously reported that the backlash included theatres saying they would no longer invite Jeff judges, as well as complaints about unprofessional judging behavior, including reports of judges sleeping during performances.

And frankly, after everything we have written about this, I do not believe for one second that this hiatus happened simply because the Jeffs suddenly looked inward and decided now was the time for deep institutional reflection.

I’m sure there were meetings. I’m sure there were very serious conversations where people used phrases like “community trust,” “stakeholders,” and “path forward” until everyone in the room needed to take a lap around the block.

But do I believe this pause happened because the organization independently had some great moral awakening? No. I do not.

I think this happened because more than a dozen theatres cut ties with them. I think this happened because the Jeff Awards were staring at a legitimacy crisis, and an awards organization without the participation of the very theatres it claims to recognize is not much of an awards organization at all.

Because if the goal was truly to pause, listen, and rebuild, that could have happened before the ceremony. Instead, action came after public pressure. After resignations. After theatres walked away. After the damage was already done.

Now, to be fair, pausing the Non-Equity awards is probably the right call. Continuing under the current structure would have only deepened the damage. Chicago’s Non-Equity theatre scene deserves recognition, but it also deserves an awards process that artists and companies actually trust.

The Jeff Awards can spend the next several months reviewing procedures, reworking policies, and issuing carefully written updates. Fine. They should. But if this pause is only about waiting for the heat to die down, then nothing meaningful will have been learned.