Festival Awards 2024 Chesley Design and Finlayson Acting Awards
By Liz Armstrong, guest writer
We are proud to announce the recipients of the 2024 Gene Chelsey Memorial Design and Michael and Jan Finlayson Acting Awards. Recipients of these awards are selected by Festival leadership and presented by Artistic Director John DiAntonio and Executive Managing Director Michael Bahr. This year Ash Cox and Darin F. Earl II are the awardees.
Gene Chesley Memorial Design Award
Each season, this award is presented to a young Festival technician or designer in recognition of outstanding talent and dedication.
Ash Cox from the props department was selected this season, due to her work and expertise as the props supervisor on Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew and past contributions to the props department and run crew. She has already signed on as props supervisor for the Engelstad shows for next season, which will mark her seventh year with the Festival.
“Ash has a unique knack for figuring things out. She has an intuitive sense for props and has picked up many amazing skills in the last six years,” Properties Director Ben Hohman said. “She has a fearlessness and a willingness to try things that makes her an exceptional prop person.”
The Festival’s Chesley Award was established by Michael and Susan Addison, to recognize promising young designers and technicians with significant artistic talents and potential for future theatrical achievements. This award is named in honor of Gene Chesley who was the primary stage designer for the Festival in the 1970’s and continued until his unexpected death in 1981. He was a stage designer, theatre historian, theatre consultant, and professor of theatre at the University of California at Davis, and President of the Association for National American Theatre preservation.
Michael and Jan Finlayson Acting Award
The Finlayson Actign Award is given each year to a returning early career actor to acknowledge significant talent, artistic development, and dedication to the Festival.
Darin F. Earl II (Frankie) was chosen for the award this season. Currently in Henry VIII and Much Ado About Nothing, the actor is also leading the Festival’s Juvenile Justice Program with the Education Department. Earl’s past work at the Festival includes Timon of Athens, Coriolanus, and the Shakespeare in the Schools tours of Hamlet and Othello.
Education Director Stewart Shelley has worked closely and collaboratively with Earl and praises his work.
“Frankie is not only a mainstay during the summer season, but has been on the educational tour twice and been an incredible force for good both on and offstage. Frankie played Othello in the 2023 Tour, and Claudius in the 2024 Hamlet tour, and the students love him,” Shelley expressed.
“Frankie is an incredibly thoughtful actor, who devotes the time to understanding the depth and nuance of each character he plays. I have been so impressed with the professionalism, kindness, talent, and overall joy that Frankie brings to each and every experience.”
Michael Finlayson was an early voice in the Festival’s dedication to excellence in performance.
He directed a number of memorable Festival productions and conducted the literary seminars that are today a Festival tradition. Before joining the Festival staff, Michael had earned an international reputation as a director for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, and other English companies. He was invited to the United States as a guest artist and visiting professor at several major universities’ theatre programs.
The Festival expresses gratitude and offers its congratulations to both Ash Cox and Darin F. Earl II for their contributions and dedication. To see both recipients’ work at the Festival this season, visit bard.org or call 800-PLAYTIX to purchase tickets today.
