When Chris Abraham accepted the Siminovitch theatre prize – this year for directing – he told a funny/appalling story describing the painful process, especially with his lead actor, that led him to leave a production he was working on in Serbia. The story ended with the punchline, “Theatre is crazy, actors are crazy,” delivered dramatically in an Eastern European accident.
He’s right. Theatre is crazy, crazy good – just like the Siminovitch Prize. The prize is wild, first because it’s an arts award, presented to a theatre artist in mid-career, founded by a bunch of scientists – the prize was conceived and named after molecular biologist Louis Siminovitch – and, most importantly, because it bestows upon the winner a honkin’ $100,000. That makes it Canada’s richest arts prize.
Abraham, who was on a shortlist with Montreal’s Benoît Vermeulen and Marie-José Bastien, caught the eye of NOW’s theatre team in 1999, when we made him a cover subject alongside Anton Piatigorsky, whose play, Mysterium Tremendum, Abraham was directing at the Fringe. Coincidentally, it was Piatigorsky who nominated Abraham for the Siminovitch.
The prize also gives the winner a chance to name a protege, who receives $25,000 from the winner’s $100k. Abraham was named protege by the first Siminovitch winner, Daniel Brooks, over a decade ago. He is the first protege winner to go on to win the major prize. He names as his own protege Mitchell Cushman, promising to mentor the talented director who’s happy to take theatrical risks. Incidentally, Cushman and his production of The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Steve Jobs got cover love from NOW last year.
In accepting his award, Cushman praised Abraham’s talent for unlocking creativity, quoting actors who have said of Abraham’s work as a director, “Never have I felt more free, never have I felt more led.”
Abraham is currently artistic director of Crow’s Theatre, where he recently named Mitchell associate producer. The two worked on a production of SEEDS. And Abraham’s acclaimed production of Othello just wrapped up at the Stratford Festival, where he returns next year to helm a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
susanc@nowtoronto.com | @susangcole
