Soheil Parsa

Soheil Parsa

Jury Member, 2024

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Soheil Parsa is an Iranian Canadian theatre artist based in Toronto. He is the co-founder and former artistic director of Modern Times Stage Company and has directed over forty productions for the company since its inception in 1989. Soheil’s work has been shown in Canada as well as internationally, and has been recognized with numerous awards and nominations. Selected past works include Blood Wedding and The House of Bernarda Alba (Modern Times Stage Company and Aluna Theatre), The Chairs, The Cherry Orchard, Waiting for Godot, Macbeth, Hamlet, Aurash, and The Death of the King (Modern Times Stage Company), David Paquet’s Wildfire and Daniel MacIvor’s Monster (Factory Theatre), Guillermo Verdecchia’s The Parliament of the Birds (Soulpepper Theatre).

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MJ Dandeneau

MJ Dandeneau

Jury Member, 2024

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MJ DANDENEAU is a French Métis/Anishinaabe woman from the Red River Nation Treaty #1. Over the past 20 years her tours, studio and composition work have literally taken her all over the globe and nationally recognized with recording awards such as Canadian JUNO’s, WCMA-Awards, CFM-Awards as well as the Kevin Walters Legacy Award, Indigenous Full Circle Prize and The Rise Award.  MJ’s multifaceted talents have given her, through her own business, MJ Entertainment Canada Inc, the ability to be an effective Booking Agent, Tour Manager, Career Consulter and Producer for the past 17 years as well as landing the Sound Designer & Composer hat for theatres across Canada. MJ’s mission is not only to be working to strengthen Indigenous communities but more importantly providing mentorship, sharing her knowledge, and instilling the values passed down to her of patience, respect, integrity, and kindness in youth to develop future community leaders.

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Jessica Poirier-Chang

Jessica Poirier-Chang

Jury Member, 2024

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Jessica holds a degree in Set and Costume Design from the National Theatre School of Canada (2006). She has made her mark as a designer within various Canadian regional theaters as well as the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where she contributed for four seasons. Her recent credits include costume designs for Foxfinder (Imago Theatre, 2022) for which she was nominated for a META for Outstanding Costume Design, Les Géants (Cirque Éloize, 2022), Bonnes Bonnes (Théâtre aux Écuries, 2023), the opera Incoronazione di Poppea (Atelier Lyrique, 2023), Chimerica (Théâtre Duceppe, 2024), for which she won the François-Barbeau award for Best Costume Design, Meteor Shower (Theatre Calgary, 2024) and The Cirque (Cirque du Soleil, 2024). In 2021, she initiated Musée Vivant, a theatrical project exploring the representation of women through classical art, supported by a grant from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec. Alongside her costume design endeavours, Jessica has an Etsy boutique where she creates handbags from salvaged fabrics and also paints regularly.

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Reneltta Arluk

Reneltta Arluk

Jury Member, 2024

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Reneltta is an Inuvialuk, Dene and Cree mom from the Northwest Territories. She is founder of Akpik Theatre, a northern focussed professional Indigenous Theatre company. Raised by her grandparents on the trap-line until school age, this nomadic environment gave Reneltta the skills to become the multi-disciplined artist she is now. For nearly two decades, Reneltta has taken part in or initiated the creation of Indigenous Theatre across Canada and overseas. Under Akpik Theatre, Reneltta has written, produced, and performed various works creating space for Indigenous led voice. Current works include Pawâkan Macbeth, a Plains Cree takeover of Macbeth written by Arluk on Treaty 6 territory. Pawâkan Macbeth was inspired by working with youth and elders on the Frog Lake reserve. Reneltta is the first Inuk and first Indigenous woman to graduate of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting program and Reneltta is the first Inuk and first Indigenous woman to direct at The Stratford Festival. There she was awarded the Tyrone Guthrie – Derek F. Mitchell Artistic Director’s Award for her direction of the The Breathing Hole. In 2024, Reneltta received an Honourary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Alberta.

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Robert Lepage

Robert Lepage

Finalist, 2001

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Biography

Robert Lepage is a Canadian playwright, actor, film director, and stage director.

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Bob Baker

Bob Baker

Finalist, 2001

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Biography

Bob Baker is a retired Canadian theatre director most known for his work as the artistic director of the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta, from 1998 to 2016.

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Linda Moore

Linda Moore

Finalist, 2001

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Biography

Primarily a stage director, Linda Moore has worked at major theatres across Canada including the Shaw Festival, the Manitoba Theatre Centre, and The Vancouver Playhouse. She served as Artistic Director of Neptune Theatre in Halifax from 1990–2000, producing over 90 productions on two stages while leading the organization through a major renovation and expansion. She has also directed plays and operas and taught theatre classes at McGill University, Dalhousie University, the University of Victoria and the National Theatre School of Canada. Her crime novel Foul Deeds was published by Vagrant Press in 2007.

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Jackie Maxwell

Jackie Maxwell

Finalist, 2001

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Biography

Jackie Maxwell is an Irish-born Canadian theatre director and dramaturge. She was the artistic director of the Shaw Festival from 2002 to 2016. Beginning with Shaw’s 2015 season, Maxwell began to transition out of the role of artistic director. She served as artistic director for the 2015 and 2016 seasons and then oversaw the 2017 season. In 2017, the festival renamed the Studio Theatre in Maxwell’s honour, calling it the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre. The Studio Theatre was originally added to the Shaw Festival space during Maxwell’s tenure as AD in 2009.

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The Artist's Eye

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Martha Henry

Martha Henry

(1938 - 2021)

Finalist, 2001

Jury Member, 2005

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Biography

Martha Henry was an American-Canadian actress and director of stage and screen. During her lifetime, she was considered one of Canada’s most acclaimed and accomplished thespians. She was the first graduate of the National Theatre School in 1961, and was most noted for her theatre work at the Stratford Festival. She was the recipient of numerous accolades, including three Genie Awards for Best Actress, and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for her contributions to Canadian theatre.

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The Artist's Eye

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Leslee Silverman

Leslee Silverman

Finalist, 2001

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Biography

Leslee Silverman is a Canadian theatre director, recognized for theatre for young audiences. She founded the Manitoba Theatre for Young People in 1982. Her awards and honours include the Silver Jubilee Commemorative Medal (1992); YWCA Woman of Distinction Award (2001); first recipient, Manitoba Arts Council Award of Distinction (2003); City of Winnipeg Certificate of Appreciation (2003); Honorary Member, Association for Canadian Theatre Research (2004). In 2010, MTYP received the Human Rights Commitment Award for “promoting human rights and social transformation for almost 30 years.”, and the Governor General’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Performing Arts (Theatre). She was instrumental in establishing the Canwest Global Performing Arts Centre, the only purpose-built young people’s theatre facility in English Canada.

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The Artist's Eye

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Morris Panych

Morris Panych

Finalist, 2001

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Biography

A native of Calgary, Alberta, Morris Panych is arguably Canada’s most celebrated playwright and director.  His plays have garnered countless awards including two Governor General’s Literary Awards for Drama (for THE ENDS OF THE EARTH and GIRL IN THE GOLDFISH BOWL), fourteen Jessie Richardson Awards (Vancouver), and five Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Toronto).  Productions of the much-lauded VIGIL, GIRL IN THE GOLDFISH BOWL, 7 STORIES and LAWRENCE AND HOLLOMAN are being mounted throughout Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.  His plays have been produced in over two dozen languages.  Mr. Panych has directed over 90 productions across Canada and the U.S. 

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The Artist's Eye

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Julie Phan

Julie Phan

Protégé, 2023

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Julie Phan is going goblin-mode. She travels between Toronto and Montreal practicing as a writer-performer, arts manager and stripper. Julie’s writing is openly hostile, characterized by her aggressive tone, off-beat sense of humor and frenetic lines of thought to explore agency, relationality and power struggle as a Vietnamese-Hoklo woman; counterpointed by her intimate understanding of people and unique somatic insights from her experience in dance performance.

She has been recognized as a writer by the Playwrights Guild of Canada (Robert Beardsley Award 2019), Major Matt Mason Collective (Wildfire National Playwriting Competition, 2021), the Jon Kaplan Legacy Fund (Young Canadian Playwright Award, 2022), and Tarragon Theatre (RBC Emerging Playwright Award, 2023). Julie is best known for disappointing her father as well as her work with fu-GEN asian theatre company (double bill, fearless).

She is currently an artist in residence at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.

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Simi News

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