Berkeley Repertory Theatre Reveals Recipients of the 2024 Charles Dean Award

Berkeley Repertory Theatre and The Robinson Family Fund for the Arts have announced that Bay Area actors Steven Anthony Jones and Joy Carlin are recipients of the 2024 Charles Dean Award. Established in 2014, this annual award is presented to local actors who have dedicated their career to Bay Area theatre. The award comes with a $10,000 cash prize for each actor endowed by The Robinson Family Fund for the Arts and administered by Berkeley Rep. This year’s awards will be presented to Jones and Carlin at Theatre Bay Area’s Second Annual Spring Soirée being held on Monday, June 3.
 
This year’s recipients were selected by an esteemed panel of industry leaders, including Berkeley Rep’s Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer, Oakland Theater Project Executive Director Michael Moran, and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre Artistic Director Margo Hall.  
 
"We are deeply grateful to The Robinson Family Fund for the Arts for their visionary support in celebrating the extraordinary actors thriving in the Bay Area theatre scene," said Pfaelzer. "I also want to extend my appreciation to my friends and colleagues, Margo Hall and Michael Moran, for partnering with me in selecting this year's recipients. We are immensely proud to honor Joy and Steven and recognize their significant contributions to our artistic community."
 
The Charles Dean Award is the brainchild of the late Leigh and Ivy Robinson, avid Bay Area theatregoers and longtime Berkeley Rep supporters, who approached Berkeley Rep in 2014 with the idea of recognizing actors who have chosen to dedicate their professional lives working in the Bay Area. The awards were named after accomplished Bay Area actor Charles Dean, whose work the Robinsons much admired.

Past recipients of the Charles Dean Award include Cathleen Riddley, Brian Rivera, Charles Dean, Margo Hall, James Carpenter, Sharon Lockwood, and Stacy Ross.