Each year the Conejo Players Theatre produces about a dozen plays and musicals staged by its Mainstage company, the Conejo Children’s Theatre and the Conejo Second Series. The various companies demonstrate a remarkable wealth of talent, versatility and dedication to the arts; the company has been at it since 1957.

And for 35 years, Conejo Players has put on an annual banquet to thank its volunteers.

This year’s festivities at Sunset Hills Country Club coincided with the hubbub surrounding the Academy Awards. The Conejo Player Harlequin Awards were no less thrilling or rewarding to those who received them.

To qualify for a Harlequin, a person must participate in two or more shows during the calendar year. And they needn’t be an onstage performer to qualify: All workers are eligible, from set painters and seamstresses to those manning the snack bar or aiming lights. All are equal in the eyes of the nominating board.

Conejo Players is a family theater in the literal sense, since mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and siblings all perform or work side by side on productions. Behind-the-scenes folk are encouraged to trod the boards and perform, and many take on a multitude of duties—anything to keep alive the “show must go on” spirit.

To take part in a production, volunteers devote an average of three months from inception to the final curtain, so they learn quickly how much effort and teamwork goes into the staging of a show.

The awards are handed out in reverse order of seniority, beginning with Honorable Mention candidates (those who haven’t quite achieved a year’s experience with the company) and proceeding to those who’ve been there one year to veterans of three decades or more. Pins are presented to those who reach each five-year plateau (at five years a silver pin is included with a certificate, at 10 years a gold pin and so forth).

The devotion for the theater shown by veterans like Dick Johnson and Jeanne Murry (at 35 years each, this year’s honorees for longevity) is amazing. In his speech, Johnson, former president of Conejo Players, described how the Harlequins began in the back room of Du-Par’s restaurant in 1976.

Johnson was inspired to start the ceremony when he was working as a stagehand in Hollywood. Noted actor Walter Pidgeon had complimented him on how he was hanging a screen door, and Johnson never forgot the note of kindness. He wanted to make sure every working member at Conejo Players, no matter how small or insignificant their chore, received attention, a token of appreciation and an ovation from their peers. (Johnson was careful never to use the word “best” in handing out the awards.)

After the longevity awards were handed out, the grand moment arrived: the presenting of the Golden Sweatshirt Awards. The most coveted awards of the night, they are given by each executive committee member to someone who’s helped them personally in the past year.

One of this year’s winners, Conejo Players president Linda Stiegler, clutched her sweatshirt and cried “I’m so happy!” as if she’d won the Best Actress Oscar. Although the glitz and glamour were probably greater down on Hollywood Boulevard last weekend, the joy and fulfillment of working in the theater was probably no less satisfying to the intrepid volunteers of the Conejo Players.