Several vie for playwright award

Montreal actress-writer Evelyne de la Cheneliere and Toronto-based writer and librettist Hannah Moscovitch are among four playwrights shortlisted for this year’s Siminovitch Prize in Theatre. The National Arts Centre says Toronto MC Donna-Michelle St. Bernard and Vancouver writer Marcus Youssef are also finalists for the lucrative award. The winner gets $75,000 and can choose a protege to receive $25,000. The Siminovitch Prize rotates on a three-year cycle, honouring theatre professionals in the alternating fields of design, direction or playwriting. This year’s winner will be announced Nov. 6 in Ottawa.