Berkeley Rep Announces Recipients of the 2022 Charles Dean Award

Berkeley Repertory Theatre and The Robinson Family Fund for the Arts announced that Bay Area actors Cathleen Riddley and Brian Rivera are recipients of the 2022 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. Usually presented at the annual Theatre Bay Area Awards ceremony, this year Cathleen and Brian will receive their awards at Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor 10th Anniversary Party being held on Sunday, October 30. The Ground Floor is Berkeley Rep's nationally recognized research and development laboratory for theatre.

This year's recipients were selected by an esteemed panel of industry leaders, including Berkeley Rep's Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer, American Conservatory Theater's Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon, and Magic Theatre's Artistic Director Sean San José.

"We are so grateful to The Robinson Family Fund for the Arts for their vision in supporting and celebrating the extraordinary actors who are making a life in theatre here in the Bay Area," said Berkeley Rep's Artistic Director Johanna Pfaelzer. "And I'm appreciative that my friends and colleagues Pam MacKinnon and Sean San José partnered with me on the selection of this year's recipients. We are so proud to be able to celebrate Cathleen and Brian and acknowledge their deep contributions to this 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 Charles Dean, Margo Hall, James Carpenter, Sharon Lockwood, and Stacy Ross.

ABOUT BERKELEY REP

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theatre. Known for its ambition, relevance, and excellence, as well as its adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. Over 5.5 million people have enjoyed nearly 500 shows at Berkeley Rep, which have gone on to win six Tony Awards, seven Obie Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, one Grammy Award, one Pulitzer Prize, and many other honors. Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. To formalize, enhance, and expand the processes by which Berkeley Rep makes theatre, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work was launched in 2012. The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre engages and educates some 20,000 people a year and helps build the audiences of tomorrow with its nationally recognized teen programs. Berkeley Rep's bustling facilities - which also include the 400-seat Peet's Theatre, the 600-seat Roda Theatre, and a spacious campus in West Berkeley - are helping revitalize a renowned city. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org.

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