Tuesday 3 October 2017

Honouring Legendary Contribution to Community Theatre in Western Ontario

Do you know someone whose sustained contribution, generosity of spirit, involvement, and commitment has helped community theatre flourish?

Theatre Ontario is now inviting nominations for the 2018 Michael Spence Award for Contribution to Community Theatre. The award is presented annually to someone from the region that is hosting the Theatre Ontario Festival—which in 2018 is Western Ontario—and will be presented at the Awards Brunch.

2017 Michael Spence
Award recipient David Parry
Past recipients of the award are Joan McRae, Anne Wilson, Lillian Sievanen, Sharon Sproule, Betty Coates, Arlene Watson, Vince Mathewson, David Glover, Harry Houston, Hans Warmenhoven, Beth McMaster, Val Hadley, Maureen Lukie, Ken Stephen, Gabe Ferrazzo, Margaret Shearman, Lawrie Bonanno, Jo-anne Spitzer, Walter Maskel, Joe O’Brien, Bev Dietrich, John Storey, and Murray Finn. The 2017 award was presented to David Parry of Perth.

The 2018 award will be presented to an individual from the Western Ontario community theatre region, which includes Bruce County, Grey County, Wellington County, Waterloo Region, the City of Burlington, the City of Hamilton, Niagara Region, and all other municipalities southward and westward to the U.S. border.

The award was established in 1997 by Theatre Ontario on the occasion of Theatre Ontario's 25th Anniversary. Multiple awards were presented on the quinquennial anniversaries of Theatre Ontario until 2012, when it became an annual award. The award is named in honour of Michael Spence, the founding President of Theatre Ontario. Michael was active in community theatre at Hart House Theatre, London Little Theatre, and the University Alumnae Dramatic Club (now known as Alumnae Theatre.) He was a member of the Board of Governors of the Dominion Drama Festival, a past President of Arts Etobicoke, and continues to be an enthusiastic supporter of Theatre Ontario.

The nomination deadline is January 31, 2018.

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