Toronto, May 21, 2003 — Pat Bradley, Theatre Officer at the
Ontario Arts Council (OAC) presented the
2003 Pauline McGibbon Award to theatre director
Kelly Thornton at the Dora Mavor Moore Awards nominees news conference this morning. The Pauline McGibbon Award is given to an emerging theatre artist in Ontario who has displayed a unique talent and a potential for excellence.
The jurors were Marti Maraden, Artistic Director, National Arts Centre English Theatre, Ottawa, Darren O’Donnell, Artistic Director, Mammalian Diving Reflex, Toronto and the 2000 winner of Pauline McGibbon Award and John Van Burek, Artistic Director, Pleiades Theatre, Toronto. There was a strong group of nominees this year but the jury chose Thornton because “she is passionate and able to transmit this to all aspects of directing.”
She was cited for “the clarity and complexity of her theatrical vision” and for her contribution to the development of new Canadian work both in her directing and by taking on the artistic directorship of Nightwood Theatre.
A University of Guelph graduate in Drama and English, Thornton is a gifted director, dramaturge and independent producer. She has just completed her second season as Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, Canada’s oldest feminist theatre company. She recently directed The Danish Play by Sonja Mills and Finding Regina by Shoshana Sperling, both for Nightwood; This Hotel by Alex Poch-Goldin for Planet 88 Productions at Theatre Passe Muraille; and The Laurels by Michael MacLennan and Jeffrey Ryan, for Tapestry New Opera Works.
The Pauline McGibbon Award was established by the Government of Ontario in 1981 to honour Ontario’s first female Lieutenant Governor. Mrs. McGibbon was a much-loved public figure who promoted the arts during her tenure as Lieutenant Governor, and was a supporter of the theatre in Ontario during her lifetime. The award is administered by the Ontario Arts Council and consists of $7,000 from the Ministry of Culture and a medal designed by Dora de Pedery Hunt. It is awarded by a jury of theatre professionals on a three-year cycle to a designer, director and theatre craftsperson.
OAC Media Contact: Kirsten Gunter, Manager of Communications
Tel: (416) 969-7403. Toll-free outside of Toronto: 1-800-387-0058, ext. 7403.
E-mail: kgunter@arts.on.ca