Although she was not ultimately named one of the winners, Sudbury playwright Sarah Gartshore was one of 15 finalists for the inaugural Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prizes.
This new performing arts prize, handed out by the Metcalf Foundation, was created to carry on Joanna Metcalf’s legacy as a tireless advocate for the arts, and to celebrate artists in Ontario who have made a recognized impact on the field and the public, and show great promise in the ongoing pursuit of their ambitious and visionary practices.
The Johanna Metcalf Prizes celebrate promising individuals who will play a pivotal role in defining the performing arts sector’s future.
The 15 finalists were selected from across Ontario in the disciplines of dance, theatre, and music/opera, including artists who are working in the spaces between and across these disciplines where many of today’s most innovative creators reside.
The five winners of the prize were named Dec. 12. A total of $150,000 in prize money was handed out.
The foundation's website said Gartshore is an educator and theatre creator who works alongside voices from the margins as a storyteller, champion of community solidarity and of radical self-love.
With ancestors from the Crane Clan of Batchewana First Nation and Clan Gartshore of Scotland, Gartshore, who lives in Sudbury, is community minded and at home in leadership and collaboration.
As the 2019 Creator in Residence for Jumblies Theatre and 2018 Playwright in Residence for Pat The Dog Theatre Creation, Gartshore gratefully experiences the larger theatre community she works within as both an offering of support and a fertile ground to share hard truths (Debwewin).
Gartshore’s plays Streetheart, Survivance, Debwewin, Remains, POW and ArmHer all highlight this Debwewin; the experts on the homeless community, sex working community, and people in active addiction are the people with lived experience in those communities.
Project ArmHer is a theatre project featuring the experiences of sex workers. Gartshore was the playwright for the project. Check out our article on the project here.
