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Jonathon Young with Rachel Cairns in Ophelia

The Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival leads the nominations for the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards, with 15 nominations for four productions – including best lead actor and best supporting actor nominations for Jonathon Young, for his work in Hamlet and Twelfth Night, respectively. Hamlet received a total of five nominations, including outstanding production, outstanding direction for Kim Collier, outstanding supporting actress for Naomi Wright, and outstanding sound design.

The Vancouver theatre award nominations were announced on Tuesday. The winners will be announced June 23.

ITSAZOO Productions' site-specific Killer Joe received the most nominations of any single production, with seven, including outstanding production, direction for Chelsea Haberlin, three acting nominations (Sebastien Archibald for supporting actor and Meghan Chenosky and Emma Slipp for supporting actress), set design, sound design – all in the small theatre category, as well as the Georgia Straight Critics' Choice Innovation Award.

Emmelia Gordon is nominated for best actress in both the large theatre category – for the Firehall Arts Centre's production of Proud – and in the small theatre category – for Shameless Hussy Productions' one-woman show Dissolve.

Jennifer Lines is nominated for best supporting actress in the large theatre category for Twelfth Night, and in the small theatre category for Realwheels Theatre's Whose Life is it Anyway?

Designer Drew Facey received a total of seven nominations, including four of five in the large theatre category for outstanding set design (for 'Art', The Seafarer, Des fraises en janvier, and The Romeo Initiative); a nomination for outstanding set design for Rumble Theatre's Penelope in the small theatre category; and two for outstanding costume design in the small theatre category – for Penelope and Solo Collective's Cool Beans.

Other nominees for lead actor in the large theatre category are: Haig Sutherland for Bard's Elizabeth Rex, John Emmet Tracy and Ron Reed for Pacific Theatre's The Seafarer, and John Voth for Pacific Theatre's The Foreigner.

Other nominees for lead actress in the large theatre category are: Colleen Wheeler for Elizabeth Rex, Lindsey Angell for the Arts Club's Venus in Fur, Matreya Scarrwener for the Arts Club's Armstrong's War, and Margo Kane for the Talking Stick Festival's For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again.

Other nominees for supporting actor in the large theatre category are: Allan Zinyk for Twelfth Night, Anton Lipovetsky for Bard's Measure for Measure, Peter Carlone for The Foreigner and Tim Dixon for The Seafarer.

In addition to Lines, nominees in the large theatre supporting actress category are: Catriona Murphy for the Arts Club's Mary Poppins; Erla Faye Forsyth for The Foreigner; Krystin Pellerin for Patrick Street Productions' Floyd Collins; and Naomi Wright for Hamlet.

In addition to Collier, the nominees for outstanding direction in the large theatre category are: Anthony F. Ingram for The Seafarer, Evan Frayne for The Foreigner, Mindy Parfitt for Armstrong's War and Rachel Ditor for Elizabeth Rex.

The nominees for outstanding musical production in the large theatre category are: Avenue Q, Dreamgirls and Mary Poppins – all Arts Club productions; and Patrick Street's Floyd Collins and Out of a Dream.

The nominees for outstanding production of a play in the large theatre category are: The Seafarer, Armstrong's War, Hamlet, The Foreigner and Théâtre la Seizième's Des fraises en janvier.

In the category of Significant Artistic Achievement for Large Theatre, the nominees are: Avenue Q and Des fraises en janvier, both for Outstanding Ensemble Performance; the Arts Club's Helen Lawrence for Outstanding Artistic Achievement in Technical Integration; Bard's Measure for Measure for outstanding band ensemble; and Floyd Collins for outstanding achievement orchestra.

In the small theatre category, nominees for outstanding lead actor are: Ashley O'Connell for Someone Who'll Watch Over me (Dancing Monkey Presents); Bob Frazer for Whose Life Is It Anyway? (Realwheels Theatre); Kayvon Kelly for Lungs (Mitch and Murray Productions); Ryan Alexander McDonald for Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Ghost Light Projects); and Sebastian Kroon for Of Mice and Men (Hardline Productions).

In addition to Gordon, the nominees for lead actress in the small theatre category are: Claire Hesselgrave for Speech and Debate (Twenty Something Theatre), Genevieve Fleming for Bug (Hardline Productions), Stephanie Izsak for Lungs, and Susan Hogan for Kayak (Alley Theatre).

In addition to Archibald, nominees for best supporting actor in the small theatre category are: Jay Clift for Bug, Kyle Jespersen for Penelope, Shawn Macdonald for Lowest Common Denominator (Zee Zee Theatre), and Alec Willows for Of Mice and Men.

And in the supporting actress category, the nominees are Moya O'Connell for Becky Shaw (Mitch and Murray Productions), Alannah Ong for Ga Ting (The Frank Theatre Company), as well as Chenosky, Lines, and Slipp.

In addition to Haberlin, nominees for outstanding direction in the small theatre category are John Cooper for Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Renee Iaci for Dissolve, Cameron Mackenzie for Lowest Common Denominator, and Richard Wolfe for Inside the Seed (Up in the Air Theatre).

Along with Killer Joe, the nominees for outstanding small theatre production are: Inside the Seed, Lungs, Of Mice and Men and Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Up for significant artistic achievement in the small theatre category: Cool Beans and Inside the Seed for outstanding ensemble performance; The Only Animal's Nothing But Sky for outstanding achievement in integrated design; Monster Theatre's Assassinating Thompson creator/performer Bruce Horak for outstanding achievement in audience engagement; and Christopher David Gauthier for outstanding body of work for costume design.

Nominees for outstanding original script are: Michelle Deines for Ghosts in Baghdad (Working Spark Theatre); Kendra Fanconi for Nothing But Sky (The Only Animal), Billy Marchenski for Slowpoke (Radix Theatre), Colleen Murphy for Armstrong's War, and Jason Rothery for Inside the Seed.

In addition to Killer Joe, the nominees for the Georgia Straight Critics' Choice Innovation Awards are: Helen Lawrence, Mrs. Warren's Profession (Alley Theatre in association with Neworld Theatre and Renegade Arts Company), This Stays in the Room (Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Theatre), and The Zombie Syndrome on Death Island (The Virtual Stage).

And in the Theatre for Young Audiences category, Carousel Theatre leads with ten nominations, including six for Busytown.

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