When the Betty Mitchell Awards roll around each year, the heavyweights of the Calgary theatre scene — such as Alberta Theatre Projects (ATP) and Theatre Calgary with their large budgets and full-time staff — invariably rake in the highest number of nominations. What’s surprising, however, is how the smaller companies, with their comparatively diminutive budgets and personnel, frequently punch above their weight.

This is no surprise to David van Belle, Ghost River Theatre’s co-artistic director. “We put a lot of time into making work that will resonate with the community. The Highest Step took three years,” he says.

Van Belle is referring to The Highest Step in the World, one of the works responsible for Ghost River’s eight Betty nominations this year. The solo show, inspired by the story of Joseph Kittinger’s 33,000-metre jump from a weather balloon, was part of ATP’s playRites Festival this year. The other Ghost River show to receive nominations, including the Fast Forward Weekly Reader’s Choice Award, is Something to do with Death, a spaghetti western-inspired work about a woman who arrives at her frontier farm only to find her husband and family murdered.

Downstage, which has only been eligible for Betty nominations for about three years received seven nominations this year, compared to last year’s two. Nominations went to Bus(t) — a Downstage Creation Ensemble piece that took place on a bus last June; Bone Cage, Catherine Banks’ 2006 Governor General’s Award-winning play; and In the Wake, another original creation piece that examines oceanic dead zones, geo-engineering and eco-terrorism.

While Ghost River has a long history of performance creation work in Calgary, Downstage is a relatively new player on the creation scene. Bus(t) and In the Wake are Downstage’s only two performance creation pieces to date, both of which received nominations for outstanding new play, as did Ghost River’s Highest Step.

Van Belle and Downstage artistic producer Simon Mallett say their nominations in this category reflect an increased attention to creation work in the theatre community.

“In Canadian theatre, improvised and created work has a long history and tradition, and it’s been undergoing a bit of a revitalization in the last few years. Script and methodology co-exist in works like Bus(t), and it’s nice to see that this approach is embraced,” says Mallett.

“There are a number of companies that have upped their interest in performance creation, their interest in telling stories that are tailor-made for the community,” adds van Belle. “That shows a maturing of the Calgary theatre community.” He also says that touring these shows — something Mallett hopes to do with In the Wake — is a positive by-product of this maturation.

Ghost River has also received nominations in every technical category, something that reflects its collaborative approach to creation.

“We very much believe in including the technical artists throughout the entire creation process,” says van Bell. “We ask: ‘What is the show we are going to make together?’ It can lead us into new and surprising paths.”

Mallett echoes those thoughts. “Both Ethan (Cole) and Anton (deGroot) were with us throughout the entire process. Ethan wrote the score while we were doing the script. Anton designed the show while we were doing it. Each one of them also took turns at the computer writing scripts,” he says, contrasting that with the more conventional approach, which typically sees the technical artists working from a pre-written script and apart from those onstage.

Even his nomination for outstanding director for In the Wake is one Mallett says he shares with the entire cast. “In a conventional play, the director is supposed to have a thorough understanding of the script. In creation work, everyone has that understanding. The director doesn’t have knowledge that the other people don’t have. My nomination is lovely, but it’s a recognition I share with the rest of ensemble,” he says.

Both Mallett and van Belle stress the Betty awards aren’t so much a competition as they are a celebration.

“We (the Downstage Creation Ensemble) are like a group of loving parents to both shows. That’s what’s really important about the awards, the recognition by our peers,” says Mallett.

“I think the Bettys are most important as a celebration for the theatre community,” adds van Belle. “We get together and say ‘Yay! What a great season we had.’ I don’t think it was intended to be a competition. In the end, we’re all making theatre, and we’re making it in Calgary.”