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Siminovitch Prize

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