Indo-Canadian actress Anusree Roy, who comes from Kolkata, was honoured a few years ago when her picture in her one-person show, Pyaasa, was shown in hundreds of posters in the subway stations in Toronto
TORONTO: At the 35th Dora Mavor Moore Award ceremony, Indo-Canadian playwright and actress Anusree Roy won the award for the ‘Outstanding New Play’, Sultans of the Street in the Theatre for Young Audiences Division.
It was the most deserving recognition of a very talented artist by the theatre, music and artistic community.
Her play, Sultans of the Street, won in every other category as well: Outstanding Production, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Performance by an individual, and Outstanding Performance Ensemble.
In her emotion-laden acceptance remarks, Anusree Roy implored all newcomers to Canada from all lands to reach out to the stars. Indeed, Roy’s own achievements in theatre in Canada testify to both her talent and her determination to make a mark as an important voice in theatre in Canada.
Unique honour for Indo-Canadian actress Anusree Roy
A few years ago, Roy’s picture in her one-person show, Pyaasa, was posted in hundreds of posters in the subway stations in Toronto, making us aware how a new talent, originally from Calcutta, was now emerging in Canada.
Dora Mavor Moore Awards, in the world of performing arts, are the most significant awards and recognition of actors, playwrights, directors and many others who are an essential part of performing arts.
This year’s glamorous awards ceremony on June 23 at Harbourfront, attended by the artists and culturati of Toronto, was marked by the presence of artists from every part of the world, who have now made Canada their home.
Indeed, as the names of nominees were being announced in various categories, and as the winners appeared on the stage, you could not but notice that the new face of Canada, not only on the streets of Toronto, but in the performing arts, is very multicultural, and multi-ethnic.
The stories these new artists are telling, and they will tell in years to come, have a different hue, a different context, and a different ethos. And they will all enrich Canada in wonderful new ways.
Every year, on this occasion, ‘The Silver Ticket Award’ is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to theatre in Toronto area. The recipient of this year’s award was actor and director Diana Leblanc, whose contributions to theatre in Toronto, Stratford, Shaw, Montreal and many other places, over many years, are recognized and admired greatly by all lovers of theatre. She was last seen in the Soulpepper production of ‘Road to Mecca’ in a play set in the apartheid South Africa.
Under the artistic direction of Albert Schulz, the Soulpepper Theatre Company has become the most significant presence in Toronto, if not Canada. Its productions have invariably been imaginative and engaging. Its production ‘Of Human Bondage’ won a number of awards in many categories, including Best Direction by Albert Schulz, and Outstanding Production.
(Prof. Sehdev Kumar teaches ‘International Films and the Human Condition’ at the University of Toronto)
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