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John Mighton, Recipient
of the Siminovitch Prize for Playwriting, 2005
October 25, 2005
TORONTO – BMO Financial Group today announced
that Toronto playwright John Mighton was named the 2005 recipient of
the Elinore & Lou
Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, Canada’s largest annual theatre
award. Mr. Mighton was chosen from a short list of seven finalists
the jury selected from the 53 top Canadian playwrights who
received nominations this year. The announcement was made during
a ceremony
this evening at University of Toronto’s historic Hart House
Theatre.
According to the jury citation, "in selecting the recipient
for the 2005 Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, the jury was particularly
impressed by the profound combination of intellect and heart
embodied in Mr. Mighton's work. His voice has grace, delicacy
and a gentle
humanity. Mr. Mighton also brings tremendous depth to his plays,
taking complex, sophisticated ideas and making them playable
in a truly theatrical manner."
 Mr. Mighton’s plays, including
Scientific Americans, Possible Worlds, A
Short History of Night,
Body and Soul, The Little Years,
and Half Life, have been performed across Canada, as well as
in Europe, Japan and the United States. He has won several
national awards including
the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. Possible Worlds
has been adapted into a feature film by renowned director Robert
Lepage. Half Life, currently on tour in Scotland, was placed
last week on the short list for the 2005 Governor General’s
Literary Award.
The Siminovitch Prize jury was chaired by Leonard
McHardy, co-owner and co-founder of TheatreBooks in Toronto.
Joining Mr. McHardy were Martha Henry, one of Canada’s most acclaimed
theatre artists; designer Astrid Janson, whose work has been seen
in North America
and Europe; Maureen LaBonté, a translator, dramaturge and
teacher who has worked in both English and French Canada; and
Jerry Wasserman, a professor at University of British Columbia and
one
of the country’s foremost scholars of Canadian Theatre.
"The jury had an extraordinary field of playwrights to discuss
this year with seven exceptional writers on the short list.
All seven writers have clearly been inspired to use their voices as
playwrights to speak to audiences in the theatre. Each speaks with
eloquence and passion in his or her own unique way,” said Mr. McHardy. “We
found Mr. Mighton’s work takes a new direction in Canadian
theatre, not by formal experimentation, but by its constantly
probing nature, keeping it on the edge. This playwright is
a very gifted
writer, whose voice we celebrate with the Siminovitch Prize
in Theatre."
In addition to playwriting, Mr. Mighton completed
a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Toronto and has
lectured in Philosophy at McMaster
University. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University
of Toronto and, for the past seven years, has coordinated JUMP
(Junior Undiscovered
Math Prodigies), an innovative school program designed to tutor children
who are having difficulties in math. Mr. Mighton has written an inspirational
book based on his experiences with JUMP called The Myth of Ability:
Nurturing Mathematical Talent in Every Child, published by
House of Anansi Press.
"When you work with children, you immediately know if you are connecting
with them and doing some good. With theatre, it is difficult to gauge
the impact. In fact, there is very little certainty that you’re
not wasting your time as a playwright," said Mr. Mighton. "Receiving
the Siminovitch Prize is a great encouragement for me to keep on going."
Tony
Comper, President and CEO of BMO Financial Group, the founding sponsor
of the Siminovitch Prize, applauded the selection. “On behalf
of BMO Financial Group, a long-time supporter of the arts in Canada,
I am thrilled to congratulate Mr. Mighton on this outstanding achievement.
The remarkable work he has done in the community with children and
mathematics
is truly commendable and it is fascinating to see how this work informs
the way he structures very complex ideas into completely accessible
plays. Mr. Mighton personifies the convergence of arts and sciences,
which is
at the heart of the Siminovitch Prize."
Mr. Mighton was awarded a
cheque for $75,000 and he chose fellow Toronto playwright, Anton Piatigorsky,
as his protégé, who received
$25,000. The prize founders have structured the Siminovitch Prize in
this way to underscore the importance of mentorship in Canadian theatre.
Mr. Piatigorsky’s plays include Eternal Hydra, which premiered at
the Stratford Festival’s Studio Theatre in 2002, The Kabbalistic
Psychoanalysis of Adam R. Tzaddik, The Offering, Mysterium
Tremendum,
Easy Lenny Lazmon and the Great Western Ascension and the libretto
for composer Brian Current’s Airline Icarus. Three of his plays
were nominated for Dora Mavor Moore and Floyd Chalmers Canadian play
awards. Easy Lenny Lazmon won four Dora awards in 1999. Mr. Piatigorsky
is
presently working on The Duke of Windsor, a play commissioned by the
Stratford
Festival,
and a novel. The other finalists placed on the short list for the 2005
Siminovitch Prize were: Daniel MacIvor (Toronto, ON); Joan MacLeod
(Victoria, BC);
Daniel David Moses (Kingston, ON); Wajdi Mouawad (Montreal, QC); Djanet
Sears (Toronto, ON); and Vern Thiessen (Edmonton, AB).
The Siminovitch
Prize in Theatre was introduced in 2001 and dedicated to renowned scientist
Lou Siminovitch and his late wife Elinore, a
playwright. Sponsored by BMO Financial Group, Canada’s largest annual
theatre arts award recognizes direction, playwriting and design in three-year
cycles, beginning with the 2001 award to Toronto director Daniel Brooks;
the 2002 award to Montreal playwright Carole Fréchette; the 2003
award to Montreal designer Louise Campeau and the 2004 award to St.
John’s
director Jillian Keiley.
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