T H E S I M I N O V I T C H P R I Z E

Seven playwrights are up for the 2005 Elinore and Lou Siminovitch Prize, the richest award in Canadian theatre. The $100,000 award’s short list, announced yesterday, includes four nominees from Ontario, one from British Columbia, one from Alberta, and one from Quebec.

“ The playwrights were selected based on the overall excellence of their work and the stage they are at within their individual careers,” said jury chairman Leonard McHardy, co-owner of TheatreBooks in Toronto. “[ The award] is geared towards an artist at a point in his or her career where the recognition and resources of the prize can make a significant impact on the artist’s future career as a playwright.”

Daniel MacIvor, whose oneman shows include Monster and Cul- de- Sac, is one of the betterknown nominees on the short list, which includes past GovernorGeneral’s Award winners Djanet Sears ( The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God), John Mighton (

Half Life), Vern Thiessen ( Einstein’s Gift) and Joan MacLeod (

Amigo’s Blue Guitar). The two remaining nominees are Quebec’s Wajdi Mouawad, who recently won (and refused) France’s prestigious Molière prize, and Aboriginal poet Daniel David Moses, a professor at Queen’s whose plays include The Dreaming Beauty

and The Indian Medicine Shows.

Sponsored by BMO Financial Group, the award will be announced on Oct. 25. The recipient receives $100,000, of which $25,000 is passed on to a protege.