The Siminovitch Prize in Theatre 2002
 Montreal Playwright Carole Fréchette Winner
of the Elinore and Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre 2002
To read more about the winner please go to www.siminovitchprize.com.
Jury Chair Bill Glassco said introducing the winner,
 "Deciding on a winner for the year's prize was difficult. Our biggest
challenge was to determine who of the candidates was "truly mid-career"
according to our understanding of the intention of this prize.
The jury decided that the notion of "mid-career" has very little
to do with age, but everything to do with one's perception of the "arc,"
the trajectory of a writer's career. We were guided especially by a paragraph
added to this year's definition of eligibility, which speaks of an artist
who " is at a point in his or her career where the recognition and
resources associated with the prize will make a significant difference."
What precissely is that "point" in a career? We decided it
has everything to do with a sense that the playwright has "arrived,"
so to speak, and recently arrived; someone who has made his or her mark,
whose writing has achieved a maturity that suggests that the artist is
clearly in sight of the apex of his or her career, is approaching the
top of the arc.
One other important factor about the "point" that our jury
felt was critical is that the writer, by virtue of his or her impact on
audiences and influence on other writers, is moving the theatre forward
in this country now, at this very moment.
Originality, sense of evolution, growing maturlty, continuing experimentation.
There is a wonderful French word that I think best sums up all those qualities
our jury was asked to look for. The word is envergure, and it denotes
breadth of scale, scope, range. It is also the word for wingspan.
Ladies and gentleman, I hope that you will agree that our winner tonight
is truly endowed with envergure.
(From remarks made by the Jury Chair prior to the announcement of the
recipient of the prize.)
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