The Siminovitch Prize acknowledges artistic excellence in Canadian theatre. It is Canada’s largest theatre arts award. Also called the Elinore and Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, it was established in honour of playwright Elinore Siminovitch and her husband, the renowned geneticist and medical scientist Louis Siminovitch. It was created in 2001 and is awarded annually to a playwright, director or designer. The prize is valued at $100,000 and is unique in its emphasis on mentorship; a total of $25,000 is shared with up to two theatre protégés of the recipient’s choosing.
The Siminovitch Prize was founded by Elizabeth and Tony Comper; Anna and Leslie Dan; Gay and John Evans; Sandra and Joseph Rotman; Angie and Cal Stiller; Judy and Larry Tanenbaum; BMO Financial Group; Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care; the J.P. Bickell Foundation; SickKids Foundation; Mount Sinai Hospital of Toronto; and the University of Toronto. The National Arts Centre in Ottawa has produced the annual awards ceremony since 2016.
Recipients
Year |
Laureate |
Protégé |
2001 |
Daniel Brooks, director |
Chris Abraham, director |
2002 |
Carole Fréchette, playwright |
Geneviève Billette, playwright |
2003 |
Louise Campeau, designer |
Michèle Magnon, designer Magalie Amyot, designer |
2004 |
Jillian Keiley, director |
Danielle Irvine, director |
2005 |
John Mighton, playwright |
Anton Piatigorsky, playwright |
2006 |
Dany Lyne, designer |
April Anne Viczko, designer Camellia Koo, designer |
2007 |
Brigitte Haentjens, director |
Christian Lapointe, designer |
2008 |
Daniel MacIvor, playwright |
Medina Hahn, playwright Daniel Arnold, playwright |
2009 |
Ronnie Burkett, designer |
Clea Minaker, designer |
2010 |
Kim Collier, director |
Anita Rochon, director |
2011 |
Joan MacLeod, playwright |
Anusree Roy, playwright |
2012 |
Rob Thomson, lighting designer |
Raha Javanfar, designer Jason Hand, designer |
2013 |
Chris Abraham, director |
Mitchell Cushman, director |
2014 |
Olivier Choinière, playwright |
Annick Lefebvre, playwright |
2015 |
Anick La Bissonnière, designer |
Marilène Bastien, designer |
2016 |
Nadia Ross, director |
Shaista Latif, director Sarah Conn, director |
2017 |
Marcus Youssef, playwright |
Christine Quintana, playwright |
2018 |
Stéphanie Jasmin, designer |
Max-Otto Fauteux, designer |
2019 |
Maiko Yamamoto and James Long, directors |
Conor Wylie, director |
2020 |
Tara Beagan, playwright |
Joelle Peters, playwright |
2021 |
Gillian Gallow, designer |
Joshua Quinlan and Joyce Padua, designers |