2003
2005 
Production and Director
The Best Production award for 2004 goes to Timon of Athens at the Stratford Festival of Canada, a remarkable study of contrasts, the first act a decadent evening nightclub depiction of the rich and famous Timon, and the second a blazingly lit daytime rant in the desert sun.
In a tight three-way race, the Best Director award for 2004 goes to Leon Rubin for his A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Stratford Festival of Canada. Barbara Gaines' modern U.S. campaign trail vision of King John and Stephen Ouimette's striking dichotomy of modern clubbing against war-torn desert for Timon of Athens were both compelling, but Rubin's Amazon jungle Midsummer was a fabulous entertainment that deftly blended young talent into the richly humorous familiar tale, a dynamic balancing act with colorful costumes, exceptional choreography, and a pulsating musical score.
Performance
The Best Actress award for 2004 goes to Nicole Parker for her Broadway-caliber singing and bitingly sardonic humor as Juliet in the co-production of Second City's Romeo and Juliet Musical: the People Versus Friar Laurence, the Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet.
The Best Actor award for 2004 goes to Peter Donaldson for his deeply wronged title character in Timon of Athens. Sophisticated and urbane despite the opulence of his milieu, Donaldson explores comic fringes as his thrice-denied dapper businessman becomes a rag-clad outcast scrabbling among desert sand holes and raging against humanity.
The Best Supporting Actor award for 2004 goes to Timothy Edward Kane for his black-leather-jacket rebel Philip Faulconbridge in King John at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Kanes' radical styling and ironic asides were the voice of the audience in a scathing depiction of unconscionable modern politics and deplorable personal ethics.
The Best Supporting Actress award for 2004 goes to Seana McKenna for her heartbreaking portrait of the divorced Queen Katherine in Henry VIII at the Stratford Festival of Canada. Ailing but defiant, McKenna's Queen memorably defies her husband and King publicly, then languishes in dramatic defeat: "I can no more."
Technicals
The Best Scenic Design award for 2004 goes to Alexander Dodge for King John at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, an election-year marvel of red-and-white runners, campaign posters, candidate portraits, opposing lecterns, waving flags, and a scrolling news ticker overhead.
The Best Costume Design award for 2004 goes to John Pennoyer for A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Stratford Festival of Canada. Contrasting a Central American paramilitary regime with soldiers in camouflage uniforms against the Britney Spears-style entourage of the young lovers - a pop star with her boy-toy rapper boyfriend and nerd groupies - the tango-dancing royal couple merge into the tattoos and earth-tones (Oberon) and ethereal blue and purple layers (Titania) of the sexy fairyland rulers.
The Best Lighting Design award for 2004 goes to Bonnie Beecher for Timon of Athens at the Stratford Festival of Canada. The first act is an evening within a sordid men's club, with strippers dancing in pulsating light and the neon reflecting the artificiality of the culture, while the second act plays out in the blazing sunshine of the desert.
The Best Sound and Music Design award for 2004 goes to Phil Swann for Second City's Romeo and Juliet Musical: the People Versus Friar Laurence, the Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet. Many original songs with some amazing rhyming and ample crude humor, a bouncy piano-based take - with insights as well as laughs - on a timeless tale of tragic teenaged romance.