Four bridge-building playwrights make short list for $75,000 Siminovitch Prize

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This article was published 05/10/2023 (1075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – Four playwrights who bridge divides on stage and off have been shortlisted for the $75,000 Siminovitch Prize.

It’s Canada’s biggest theatre purse, and it goes to an artist whose work helps transform the country’s theatre scene.

This year’s list of finalists includes d’bi.young anitafrika of Brampton, Ont., who is committed to creating work that centres Black queer feminist theatrical forms, and who has also dedicated time and energy to mentoring other theatre artists.

Francophone playwright Mishka Lavigne of Gatineau, Que., also made the short list, for work in French and English.

Jurors say St. John’s, N.L., artist Berni Stapleton made the list for her “bold and unyielding commitment” to portraying women and girls from her province on stage and “making a place for them and gender nonconformists in the canon.”

Rounding out the short list is David Yee of Toronto, who jurors praise for both his artistic range and commitment to supporting Asian Canadian and BIPOC artists in his city.

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The winner is set to be announced Dec. 4. That person will receive $75,000 and an additional $25,000 to award to a protege. Runners-up will get $5,000 apiece, plus another $5,000 to award to an emerging artist.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2023.