Hampton Richards, who played “Jennifer” in the play “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” salutes her cast members during the 43rd Eliot Norton Awards.

Named for distinguished Boston theater critic Elliot Norton (1903-2003), the Elliot Norton Awards are presented annually by the Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA) to honor the outstanding work of the season in Greater Boston. On Monday night, awards in more than two dozen categories of theater arts were presented at the 43rd Annual Elliot Norton Awards ceremony, held at the Huntington Theatre in Boston and hosted by BTCA President Joyce Kulhawik.

Recipients of Special Citations included the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company in honor of its 30th anniversary season of performing top-notch summer productions of Shakespeare plays for free on Boston Common; and Blue Man Group in honor of its 30-year residency in Boston.

The 2026 Elliot Norton Arts Education Award was presented to Open Door Theater, one of the nation’s only integrated, accessible theater troupes. Its full-scale, high-quality productions are ASL interpreted, open captioned, sensory friendly and audio described, and feature deaf, blind, disabled, autistic and neurodiverse actors.

In remembrance of a beloved local leader, the evening’s award for Outstanding Lighting Design was dedicated to the late Candelaria Silva-Collins, an arts administrator and author who pioneered cultural events as a resource to advance economic development in her hometown, Roxbury. Silva-Collins died in March.

Presenting the award to Christopher Akerland for the Huntington Theatre’s “The Light in the Piazza,” Boston-based theater artist Pascale Florestal said, “Candelaria was the cultivator of communities, and this theater scene is better because of her dedicated service.”

Most award categories have five nominees; to be nominated by BTCA members is itself a coveted distinction in the Boston theater community.

A host of nominations and awards went to productions of the Front Porch Arts Collective and SpeakEasy Stage. Two of Greater Boston’s leading theater artists, Dawn Meredith Simmons and Maurice Emmanuel Parent, have moved into new roles after a decade working as co-founders and co-producing artistic directors of the Front Porch Arts Collective, Boston’s premier Black company committed to advancing racial equity through theater. Earning critical acclaim while bringing new talents and stories into the spotlight, the Porch and its co-producing partners and artists have received 18 Elliot Norton Awards.

In July 2025, Simmons became artistic director of the SpeakEasy Stage Company, succeeding Paul Daigneault, who as founder and producing artistic director developed the company into a major force in Boston’s cultural life as a champion of diverse and emerging voices and the power of theater to advance social change. At the same time, Parent became the producing artistic director of the Porch. True to its name, which evokes a communal gathering place welcoming to all, the Porch strives to increase equity, diversity and inclusion in Greater Boston theaters both onstage and behind-the-scenes through its productions and partnerships.

A nominee in seven categories for Small Productions and in four, the winner, was “The Mountaintop,” staged by the Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with Suffolk University Modern Theatre. Recipient of awards for Outstanding Play; Outstanding Director (Maurice Emmanuel Parent); Outstanding Lead Performance (Dominic Carter); and Outstanding Featured Performance (Kiera Prusmack, in a tie with Sehnaz Dirik, the long-suffering wife of the tormented protagonist in Arthur Miller’s “A View from the Bridge,” at Apollinaire Theatre Company in Chelsea).

The production was a nominee for Outstanding Sound Design (Joshua Jackson); Outstanding Scenic Design (Ben Lieberson and Pamela Hersch); Outstanding Lighting Design (Brian Lilienthal).

Praising his director, Parent, as he accepted his award, Carter said, “I’ve been in theater for about nine years now, and I couldn’t afford school to be an actor; but I just strapped up my boots and did a lot of community theater, and here I am. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to everybody.”

Receiving the awards for Outstanding Play and Director, Parent said, “The show meant a lot in this year of transition for the Front Porch Arts Collective. It’s about hope and the future using Dr. King’s legacy to inspire us to continue our fight towards the Promised Land. I am so grateful for all of you to be on the journey together.”

The Moonbox Productions staging of “Crowns,” by Regina Taylor, received the Midsize or Small Production award for Outstanding Music Direction (David Coleman) and was a nominee for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Director (Regine Vital), Outstanding Costume Design (E. Rosser); and Outstanding Ensemble.

Garnering nominations in five categories for Midsize or Small Productions was the world-premiere staging of “The Meeting Tree” by Company One Theatre (C1) in collaboration with Front Porch Arts Collective at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester, inventively directed by Summer L. Williams, C1’s associate artistic director and co-founder. B. Elle Borders was a nominee for Outstanding New Script and the production was also nominated for Outstanding Play; Outstanding Ensemble; Outstanding Scenic Design (Cristina Todesco), and Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play (Jacqui Parker).

The SpeakEasy Stage production of “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” written by Ghanaian American playwright Jocelyn Bioh and directed by Summer L. Williams, was a nominee in five categories for Midsize or Small productions, and received awards in two: Outstanding Ensemble, and Outstanding Costume Design, awarded to Danielle Domingue Sumi. The production was also nominated for Outstanding Play; Outstanding Scenic Design (Janie E. Howland); and Outstanding Director (Summer L. Williams).

Accepting the award for Outstanding Play, Hampton Richards, who performed the role of Jennifer, said “It’s amazing how this play shows the impact of immigrant lives on a community, and the way we can use hope to silence fear. It’s ironic how this play was picked before our country’s culture shifted its views on immigrant families and businesses. Yet the message still stands. I don’t think we truly understand the amount of courage it takes to go to a country you’ve never been before with a language you don’t know to create a better life for your family.”

A full list of awardees can be found at ElliotNortonawards.com.