Why Not Theatre founder Ravi Jain wins Siminovitch, Canada’s top theatre prize

Advertisement

Advertise with us

TORONTO - Why Not Theatre founder Ravi Jain has won Canada's top theatre prize.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Monthly Digital Subscription

$1 per week for 24 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Monthly Digital Subscription

$4.99/week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

No thanks

*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.

TORONTO – Why Not Theatre founder Ravi Jain has won Canada’s top theatre prize.

Jain was awarded the $100,000 Siminovitch Prize at a ceremony in Toronto tonight.

The jury praised Jain for “reshaping the ecosystem around him” with inventive work that puts inclusion at its centre. 

Ravi Jain is pictured during a dress rehearsal of
Ravi Jain is pictured during a dress rehearsal of "Prince Hamlet" at The Theatre Centre in Toronto on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Jain’s body of work includes “Prince Hamlet,” a bilingual ASL/English reimagining of Shakespeare and the two-part “Mahabharata,” a stage interpretation of a 4,000-year-old Sanskrit epic.

Jain chose that production’s co-creator, Miriam Fernandes, as his protege for the Siminovitch, meaning she’ll receive $25,000.

The prize typically honours designers, directors or playwrights in a given year, but the three-year cycle was paused for this milestone 25th edition to welcome nominations from all fields, including those outside the usual categories.

The prize purse also increased this year from $75,000 to $100,000.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2025.

Report Error Submit a Tip