Karl Ang and Daniel Maslany in The Division. The play, written and directed by Andrew Kushnir, was recognized for its direction, writing and ensemble, as well as the elusive trophy for outstanding production.Dahlia Katz/Supplied
On Monday night, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts unveiled this year’s slate of Dora Mavor Moore Award winners.
Hosted by actor Amaka Umeh in a lively ceremony at Meridian Hall, the Doras celebrated the best of the best in Toronto performing arts. Considering this year’s juries made some truly confounding omissions in their slate of nominees – major theatre productions including CHILD-ish, A Doll’s House and The Veil were snubbed entirely, while Tom Rooney was overlooked for his sizzling solo performance in Rogers v. Rogers – the winners were surprisingly well chosen.
The general theatre division featured an unusually wide array of winners, without a sweep for any one single show. Through the Eyes of God, Anusree Roy’s heart-tugging solo play about a single mother in India on a journey to rescue her daughter from traffickers, took home the coveted Outstanding Production award – quite a feat, given director Thomas Morgan Jones’s tiny staging of the 45-minute work in Theatre Passe Muraille’s cozy Backspace. (The production also snagged a trophy for Romeo Candido’s evocative sound design.)
Nicolas Billon’s The Neighbours, a harrowing true-crime drama, won the award for outstanding new play. (Again, unsurprising: Last month, the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards similarly lauded Billon’s script, produced by Green Light Arts in association with Tarragon Theatre.)
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In another win for Tarragon, Gregory Prest received an accolade for outstanding direction, for his work on Bremen Town. Mischief, produced by Tarragon, Native Earth Performing Arts and Neptune Theatre, was commended for Andy Moro’s set and projection designs.
Enormity, Girl, and the Earthquake in her Lungs, produced by Nightwood Theatre in association with Tarragon, was recognized for its ensemble.
In the highly competitive individual performance category, Sophia Walker was singled out for her work in Slave Play. (From my vantage point in the critic seat, any other choice by the jury would have been indefensible – Walker’s performance, and particularly that blood-curdling scream near the end of the play, went unmatched this season.)
Rounding out the general theatre division were awards for lighting designer Bonnie Beecher (The Welkin) and costume designer Melanie McNeill, who took home trophies for her work on Théâtre français de Toronto’s Le malentendu (The Misunderstanding) as well as Eldritch Theatre’s Night at the Grand Guignol in the independent theatre division.
In contrast to the general theatre division, the independent sector had a clear front-runner: The Division, written and directed by Andrew Kushnir. The play, produced by Project: Humanity and Pyretic Productions in association with Crow’s Theatre, was recognized for its direction, writing and ensemble, as well as the elusive trophy for outstanding production.
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Another no-brainer in the independent division: Nick Eddie, who has given several of the strongest performances in the city over the past year, was lauded for his work on Bug, written by Tracy Letts. Staged in a skin-crawlingly intimate production by the King Black Box in partnership with Elkabong Theatre Projects, Bug made a compelling case for the gritty storefront venue on King West as a site for claustrophobic theatre – I so hope to see more productions like Bug, and more performances like Eddie’s, soon.
Rounding out the independent theatre division were scenic and sound design awards for The Green Line, produced by In Arms Theatre Company and MENA Collective in association with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and Factory Theatre, and a lighting design nod for Public Consumption, created by Lester Trips and presented by Factory Theatre. (Of note: Coal Mine Theatre, which received 13 nominations for this year’s Dora Awards, won none of the categories for which it was in consideration.)
The musical theatre division was split neatly between two shows, Narnia and Octet, with only one exception.
Octet, produced by Crow’s Theatre, Soulpepper Theatre Company and the Musical Stage Company, took home hardware for its ensemble and sound design, as well as the award for outstanding production. Narnia, meanwhile, produced by Soulpepper, Crow’s and Bad Hats Theatre, won trophies for outstanding new musical and outstanding creative direction.
The sole non-Narnia or Octet winner was Kaylee Harwood for her radiant performance in Bright Star, produced by Garner Theatre Productions and presented by Mirvish.
The Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award, chosen not by a jury but by members of the public, went to Shifting Ground Collective’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone. (The Gen Z-led company won the same award last year, for its production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.)
A complete list of winners from Monday night’s awards, including laureates from the opera, dance and theatre for young audiences divisions, can be found on TAPA’s website.