Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Following an electric and inspiring 11-day Festival marking its 28th year, SummerWorks Performance Festival - which saw notable increases in attendance percentages and the number of sell-out houses this year - revealed the winners of the 2018 SummerWorks Awards last night at its Closing Night Party. At one of the Festival’s official venues, The Theatre Centre, in the newly located Festival nexus of Lisgar Park, artists and audiences gathered in celebration of a year united around concepts of reframing and possibility, and the newly streamlined programming between two major streams, Presentations and Labs.
Sponsored by local organizations, the SummerWorks Awards are adjudicated by a jury of three performance professionals, with the exception of the NOW Magazine Audience Choice Award.
This year’s SummerWorks Awards jury members were Sedina Fiati, Brendan Healy, and Kate Nankervis.
The 2018 winner of the SummerWorks Award for Production, presented by SummerWorks Artistic and Managing Director, Laura Nanni and Festival Producer, Rosanna Lowton, was awarded to Lost Together (Lab), an Unspun Theatre production. Conceived by Shira Leuchter and created and performed by Leuchter and Michaela Washburn, in Lost Together one participant at a time is invited to share a story about something they’ve lost. Throughout the conversation, Shira and Michaela work together to reimagine and recreate that lost thing for the participant. The objects they created during the Festival became part of an ever-evolving exhibition, reminding that loss doesn’t have to be a solitary reckoning.
The NOW Magazine Audience Choice Award, determined by audience members who vote for their favourite performance by placing their ticket stub in a ballot box as they leave the performance, and determined by percentage of votes cast in relation to total attendance, was awarded to xLq’s 4inXchange (Presentation), an interactive, site-specific game with four players and $1,000 cash that guides participants through a series of dialogues, chances, competitions, and meditations. The award was presented by NOW Magazine theatre critic Jordan Bimm.
The Canadian Stage Award for Direction, presented by Canadian Stage Producer Lynanne Sparrow, was awarded to director/choreographer Alyssa Martin for her work fantasylover.
The Jon Kaplan Spotlight Award, so named in 2017 in acknowledgment of the loss of beloved veteran NOW theatre critic Jon Kaplan, and recognizing the work of a featured performer in the festival, was awarded to Amanda Cordner of Body So Fluorescent. Halifax based company Theatre de Poulet was awarded the Theatre Centre Emerging Artist Award for The Extinction of Hong Kongers.
“We introduced some big changes to the Festival this year to better focus our ability to support our artists in their creative ambitions,” says Artistic and Managing Director Laura Nanni. “The galvanizing take-away from the award selection and from audience response throughout the Festival is that there is great support for the type of exploration of performance that distinguishes SummerWorks. Feedback from patrons overwhelmingly told us that they enjoyed the Festival’s more easily navigated size, the close proximity of our venues, as well as Q&A and long table sessions, which allowed more space for conversation and reflection around the work. Both the production award and audience award went to interactive, experiential shows this year – which is so exciting - and yet again a director of a multidisciplinary work has won the direction award. This really validates our commitment to artists interested in exploring the possibilities of what performance can be.”
Other awards handed out last night included the Buddies in Bad Times Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation to Eroca Nicols, for Truthteller and The Reckoning and The Contra Guys Award for New Performance Text to Natasha Adiyana Morris for The Negroes Are Congregating.
A complete list of awards and recipients follows. The 2018 SummerWorks Performance Festival ran in Toronto from August 9-19, 2018.
2018 SummerWorks Awards Winners:
SummerWorks Prize for production
(Winner awarded $500 and a spot in the 2019 Festival. All companies presenting new work are eligible.)
Winner: Lost Together, Unspun Theatre
Honourable Mentions: Box 4901; Lion Womxn, The Amy Project
The NOW Magazine Audience Choice Award
(Winner receives $2000 in free advertising with NOW Magazine.)
Winner: 4inXchange, XLq
Canadian Stage Award for Direction
($500 cash prize award for outstanding direction of a work at the Festival)
Winner: Alyssa Martin for Fantasy Lover
Honourable Mentions: Majdi Bou-Matar for Adrenaline; Aida Keykhaii for Swim Team
Theatre Centre's Emerging Artist award
($500 cash prize awarded to an artist early in their career who made an artistic impression during the Festival.)
Winner: Theatre du Poulet for The Extinction of Hong Kongers
Honourable Mention: xLq for 4inXchange
Jon Kaplan Spotlight Award
(Awarded to a featured performer in a SummerWorks show. The winner receives an Unlimited Pass to see performances at the Festival next year.)
Winner: Amanda Cordner for Body So Fluorescent
Honourable Mention: The Lion Womxn ensemble
Contra Guys award for New Performance Text
(Generously supported by two SummerWorks founders, Benj Gallander and Ben Stadelmann, the Contra Guys Award for best new performance text is a $1500 cash prize presented to a performance-maker for an outstanding new work (script of performance text).
Winner: Natasha Adiyana Morris for The Negroes Are Congregating
Honourable Mentions: Aisha Sasha John for the aisha of is; Aurora Stewart de Peña for Hot Cuts
Buddies In Bad Times Vanguard Award for risk/ innovation
(Sponsored by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, this $500 cash prize is awarded to an individual or company in recognition of an artistic choice or choices exemplifying innovations and/or artistic risk.)
Winner: Eroca Nicols, for Truthteller and The Reckoning
Honorable Mentions for the teams behind: Café Sarajevo and Katimajuit
Website: SummerWorks.ca
Twitter: @SummerWorks
Facebook: SummerWorks Performance Festival
Instagram: @SummerWorks_Festival
2018-08-20
Toronto: The 2018 SummerWorks Award Winners