JANE CATHERINE SHAW
2022 RUTH MALECZECH AWARD
a performer who embodies Ruth’s daring and raw, naked fearlessness in every performance
JANE CATHERINE SHAW (she/her) is curator of La MaMa’s annual Puppet Slam. She was puppetry director for Theodora Skipitares’ Grand Panorama, and The Transfiguration of Benjamin Banneker, and was nominated for a 2014 New York Innovative Theatre Award for her work with Ms. Skipitares on The Chairs. She creates and directs her own work for puppet theatre: The Three Dolls, Framed; The Mother Goose Chronicles; Calpurnia Coyote Comes To The Big City; The Blue Marble; Following the Win; Folktales of Asia and Africa; Pelandok the Mousedeer; as well as adult works: Thirst: Money of Water, The Lone Runner, Bed of Light, and Universe Expanding. She is still at it after 30 years.
“I shared meals with Ruth, listened to her wondrous stories of her adventurous life as a passionate artist, and had the privilege of working with her as a performer, a mentor and once even as a director. Ruth was, and is an icon of courage. The honor of being awarded a RUTHIE is surely a sign that Ruth is reaching across time to offer courage to me, and I gratefully and humbly receive it.”