Thursday 1 October 2015

Honouring Contribution to Community Theatre in Northeastern Ontario

Do you know someone whose sustained contribution, generosity of spirit, involvement, and commitment within his/her region has helped community theatre flourish? Theatre Ontario is now inviting nominations for the 2016 Michael Spence Award for Contribution to Community Theatre. The award is presented annually to an individual from the region that is hosting the Theatre Ontario Festival—which in 2016 is Northeastern Ontario.

John Storey, the 2015 recipient of
Theatre Ontario's Michael Spence Award
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, and Bev Dietrich. The 2015 award was presented to John Storey of Markham.

The 2016 award will be presented to an individual from the northeastern Ontario community theatre region, which includes the Districts of Parry Sound, Nipissing, Manitoulin, Sudbury (and the City of Greater Sudbury), Algoma, Timiskaming, and Cochrane.

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 29, 2016.


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