Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Richard Rose, Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre is pleased to announce that the Urjo Kareda Residency Grant, with a value of $15,000 plus a travel stipend, funded by The Youssef-Warren Foundation has been awarded to Toronto multi-disciplinary theatre artist, Audrey Dwyer.
The Urjo Kareda Residency Grant supports the training and artistic residency of an exceptional emerging theatre artist each season at Tarragon Theatre. The successful applicant spends twenty weeks at Tarragon Theatre pursuing her/his own training and artistic goals by working in collaboration with professional artists in his/her chosen field(s) of interest.
Beginning in August 2018, Audrey will work with Richard Rose on artistic direction, play development and direction of two season productions. Upon accepting the residency, Audrey offered the following remarks, "I am honoured to have received Tarragon Theatre’s Urjo Kareda Residency. I am a multi-disciplinary artist who has run a small theatre company in the past. Now is the perfect time to study how a mid-sized theatre company works. It is a privilege to join the list of theatre practitioners who have deepened their skills at Tarragon. I look forward to studying artistic direction with Richard and his entire team. I’m thrilled to study direction and new play development as well. I am grateful to continue my creative journey with the artistic leaders at Tarragon."
“Audrey impressed the committee with her informed questions about the profession of artistic direction,” said Rose. “While Audrey has her own acting, directing and writing credits, we see her aspiration to engage in the role of artistic director as a career transition and that she was emerging into a new theatrical discipline. Audrey’s willingness to understand and engage with the complexities of running a mid-size theatre company focused on new play writing impressed us. I think she will very likely be leading one of our theatre companies in the not-so-distant future.”
Audrey’s acting work includes Young People’s Theatre’s One Thing Leads to Another (Dora Awards - Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Ensemble), The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and Mirvish Productions’ Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, RMTC’s Good People, thirsty at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Mirvish/Studio 180's Clybourne Park and The Overwhelming, Canadian Stage's Dream in High Park - The Tempest, Obsidian Theatre's Black Medea, Mirvish/RMTC's Medea, Patty’s Cake (Dora Award - Outstanding Children's Production), Young People’s Theatre’s Blue Planet, and The Second City Touring Company.
Audrey was a mentor for the Summerworks Leadership Intensive Program and she co-facilitated the program in 2012 and 2013. She was the Assistant Coordinator and Educator for Nightwood Theatre’s Write from the Hip program from 2008 to 2010. Over the past ten years, she has worked with companies such as TIFF, The Amy Project, Nia Centre for the Arts, Black Women Film, and VisualEyes as a Guest Teacher and Mentor. She has been a guest facilitator for Humber’s Community Week since 2016. She was also a Resident Arts Educator at Young People’s Theatre.
Most recently, Audrey wrote and directed Calpurnia, produced by Nightwood Theatre and Sulong Theatre, and presented at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre to sold out audiences. In 2011, she directed and dramaturged The Apology by Darrah Teitel at the Next Stage Festival for which she was nominated for Outstanding Direction, her team was nominated for Outstanding Ensemble and the play was nominated for Outstanding New Play (Independent Division – Dora Mavor Moore Awards).
In 2008, she was the Associate Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre. In 2015, she won the Cayle Chernin Award for Theatre. From 2016 – 2017, she was the Artistic Director of Cow Over Moon Children’s Theatre. She is a graduate of The National Theatre School.
Photo: Audrey Dwyer.
2018-03-22
Toronto: Tarragon Theatre's 2018/19 Urjo Kareda Residency Grant awarded to Audrey Dwyer