The Siminovitch Prize is Canada's largest theatre award recognizing excellence in mid-career directors, playwrights and designers. $100,000 is awarded annually, and for recipients, who are given the public recognition and financial resources, it is truly life-changing!
Anyone may nominate a qualified candidate for the Prize, and winners are selected by a jury made up of prominent theatre professionals. Nominees must be a professional director, playwright, or designer who, in the preceding 10 years, has made a significant creative contribution to no fewer than three noteworthy theatre projects in Canada.
A condition of the award is that one quarter of the prize (CAD$25,000) must be awarded to an emerging artist "Protégé" selected by the winner. The Protégé must be an individual involved in professional direction, playwriting, or design in Canadian theatre. The winner may choose to grant the amount to a single Protégé or divide it between two eligible Protégés. Three finalists also receive CAD$5,000.
History
Formally, the Elinore & Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, the Siminovitch Prize was launched in 2000 to honour the values and achievements of the distinguished scientist Louis ("Lou") Siminovitch and his late wife Elinore Siminovitch who was a pioneering playwright. A group of Dr. Siminovitch’s friends and colleagues came together on the occasion of his 80th birthday to create this award . Twelve individuals and six organizations founded the prize; primary amongst them was the prize's largest financial sponsor, the
BMO Financial Group
The Bank of Montreal (BMO; french: Banque de Montréal, link=no) is a Canadian multinational investment bank and financial services company.
The bank was founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1817 as Montreal Bank; while its head office remains in ...
.
In March 2012, BMO announced that the 12th edition of the prize would be its last., In an interview one of the prize's founders, Joseph Rotman, he stated that the Siminovitch Prize was never conceived to run in perpetuity. However, in July 2013, new financial supporters were secured resulting in the revival of the Siminovitch Prize. The Prize has continued ever since, under the direction of the Siminovitch Prize Foundation, funded annually by individual donors and corporate sponsors.
Recipients
The recipients of the Siminovitch Prize since its inception are:
*2001 (director) -
Daniel Brooks
Daniel Brooks (born 23 June 1958) is a Canadian theatre director, actor and playwright. He is well known in the Toronto theatre scene for his innovative productions and script-writing collaborations.
Early life
Brooks was born in Toronto, Ontari ...
*2002 (playwright) -
Carole Fréchette
Carole Fréchette (born 1949) is a Canadian playwright. She won the Siminovitch Prize in 2002. To date she has written more than a dozen plays including ''The Four Lives of Marie'', ''The Seven Days of Simon Labrosse'', ''Helen's Necklace'', ''J ...
*2003 (designer) - Louise Campeau
*2004 (director) -
Jillian Keiley
Jillian Keiley is a director from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, who was the founding artistic director of ''Artistic Fraud'' ''of Newfoundland''. Since August 2012, Keiley has been the artistic direc ...
*2005 (playwright) -
John Mighton
John Mighton, OC (born October 2, 1957) is a Canadian mathematician, author, and playwright.
Education and career
Mighton was born in Hamilton, Ontario on and lives in Toronto, Ontario with partner Pamela Sinha and daughter Chloe.
In 1998 ...
*2006 (designer) - Dany Lyne
*2007 (director) -
Brigitte Haentjens
Brigitte Haentjens, is a Canadian theatre director and president of her own company, Sybillines, which she founded in 1997.Jean St-Hilaire"Brigitte Haentjens reçoit le prestigieux prix Siminovitch" ''Le Soleil'', online posting in Cyberpresse'' ...
*2008 (playwright) -
Daniel MacIvor
Daniel MacIvor (born July 23, 1962) is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director, and film director. He is probably best known for his acting roles in independent films and the sitcom '' Twitch City''.
Personal
MacIvor was born in Sydney, No ...
*2009 (designer) - Ronnie Burkett
*2010 (director) - Kim Collier
*2011 (playwright) - Joan MacLeod
*2012 (designer) - Robert Thomson
*2013 (director) - Chris Abraham (the only laureate to receive both the protégé and main prize)
*2014 (playwright) - Olivier Choinière
*2015 (designer) - Anick La Bissonnière
*2016 (director) - Nadia Ross
*2017 (playwright) - Marcus Youssef of Vancouver"Playwright Marcus Youssef wins $100K Siminovitch Prize"
CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', December 1, 2022.
The protégé recipients of the Siminovitch prize are:
*2001 - Chris Abraham
*2002 - Geneviève Billet
*2003 - Magalie Amyot and Michèle Magnon
*2004 - Danielle Irvine
*2005 - Anton Piatigorsky
*2006 - Camellia Koo and April Anne Viczko
*2007 - Christian Lapointe
*2008 - Daniel Arnold and Medina Hahn
*2009 - Clea Minaker
*2010 - Anita Rochon
*2011 -
Anusree Roy
Anusree Roy is a Canadian award-winning writer of plays, television, film and libretto. She is also an actress.Christine Quintana
*2018 - Max-Otto Fauteux
*2019 - Conor Wylie
*2020 - Joelle Peters
*2021 - Joyce Padua and Joshua Quinlan
*2022 - Philippe Boutin