The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, Independent Theatre is a Canadian theatre award, presented as part of the Dora Mavor Moore Awards to honour the year's best new play by a Canadian playwright which had its premiere in the Toronto theatre market in the previous year.
The award was first presented in 1988 as an award for small theatre productions. In 1993, a separate award for mid-sized theatre was introduced, with the definitions set at 200 seats or less for small theatres and 200 to 500 seats for midsize theatres. The awards were presented alongside each other to different plays until 1997; in 1998, the awards were merged as a single award for independent theatre production.
Winners and nominees
1980s
| Year | Playwright | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Stewart Lemoine | The Vile Governess and Other Psychodramas | |
| Leah Cherniak, Robert Morgan, Martha Ross | The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine | ||
| Robin Fulford | Steel Kiss | ||
| Michael Hollingsworth | Confederation and Riel | ||
| Diego Matamoros, Dean Gilmour, Michele Smith | The Green Bird | ||
| 1989 | John Mighton | Scientific Americans | |
| Don Druick | Where Is Kabuki? | ||
| Tomson Highway | The Sage, the Dancer and the Fool | ||
| Bruce McCulloch | Jazz Stenographers | ||
| Martha Ross | Paranoia |
1990s
| Year | Playwright | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Sky Gilbert | The Whore's Revenge: A Victorian Melodrama | |
| Daniel MacIvor, Ken McDougall, Edward Roy | White Trash Blue Eye | ||
| Tony Nardi | A Modo Suo (A fable) | ||
| Martha Ross | Dr. Dapertutto | ||
| Raymond Storey | The Saints and the Apostles | ||
| 1991 | Normand Canac-Marquis, translated by Louison Danis | The Cézanne Syndrome | |
| Daniel Brooks, Don McKellar, Tracy Wright | Red Tape | ||
| Daniel MacIvor | Never Swim Alone | ||
| Harry Rintoul | Brave Hearts | ||
| Marcy Rogers | Nocturnal Emissions | ||
| 1992 | John Mighton | A Short History of Night | |
| Thomas Coyle | The Tyrant of Pontus | ||
| Daniel MacIvor | House | ||
| Edward Roy | Seeds | ||
| Jason Sherman | The League of Nathans | ||
| 1993 | Mid-Sized Theatre | ||
| Neil Munro | Bob's Kingdom | ||
| Normand Chaurette, translated by Linda Gaboriau | The Queens | ||
| Sean Dixon | 1492 | ||
| Ann-Marie MacDonald, Nic Gotham | Nigredo Hotel | ||
| David Young | Glenn | ||
| Small Theatre | |||
| Michael Hollingsworth | The Great War | ||
| Michael Hollingsworth | The Life and Times of Mackenzie King | ||
| James O'Reilly | Ghetto | ||
| Edward Roy | A Secret Life | ||
| 1994 | Mid-Sized Theatre | ||
| George Bwanika Seremba | Come Good Rain | ||
| Simon Fortin | Le Pays dans la gorge | ||
| Robert Fothergill | Public Lies | ||
| Stewart Lemoine | Shockers Delight! | ||
| Jason Sherman | Three in the Back, Two in the Head | ||
| Small Theatre | |||
| Soheil Parsa, Peter Farbridge | The Death of the King | ||
| Daniel Brooks, Leah Cherniak, Diane Flacks, Richard Greenblatt, Leslie Lester, Allan Merovitz | The Theory of Relatives | ||
| Kelley Jo Burke | Charming and Rose: True Love | ||
| Ken Garnhum | Pants on Fire | ||
| Michael Hollingsworth | WWII | ||
| 1995 | Mid-Sized Theatre | ||
| Brad Fraser | Poor Super Man | ||
| Daniel Brooks, Don McKellar, Tracy Wright | 86 | ||
| Jean-Marc Dalpé | Eddy | ||
| Daniel Danis, translated by Linda Gaboriau | Stone and Ashes | ||
| Colleen Wagner | The Monument | ||
| Small Theatre | |||
| Sabina Fella | Lebensborn | ||
| Dave Carley | Into | ||
| Leah Cherniak | The Attic, the Pearls, and 3 Fine Girls | ||
| Edward Riche | Possible Maps | ||
| 1996 | Mid-Sized Theatre | ||
| Lee MacDougall | High Life | ||
| Bill Harrar | Inquest | ||
| Daniel MacIvor, Daniel Brooks | Here Lies Henry | ||
| John Mighton | The Little Years | ||
| Jason Sherman | The Retreat | ||
| Small Theatre | |||
| Drew Hayden Taylor | Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth | ||
| Audrey Butler | Medusa Rising | ||
| Michael Hollingsworth | The Cold War | ||
| Bryan James | Stockholm(e) | ||
| Guillermo Verdecchia, Marcus Youssef | A Line in the Sand | ||
| 1997 | Mid-Sized Theatre | ||
| Theresa Tova | Still the Night | ||
| Buddies in Bad Times | The Martha Stewart Projects | ||
| Carole Fréchette, translated by John Murrell | The Four Lives of Marie | ||
| Daniel MacIvor | The Soldier Dreams | ||
| Judith Thompson | Sled | ||
| Small Theatre | |||
| Djanet Sears | Harlem Duet | ||
| Robin Fulford | Gulag | ||
| Michael Hollingsworth | The Global Village Part II: Trudeau and the FLQ | ||
| Leonard Linklater, Patti Flather | Sixty Below | ||
| Jonathan Wilson | My Own Private Oshawa | ||
| 1998 | Michael Healey | Kicked | |
| Carol Bolt | Famous | ||
| Morris Ertman, Ron Reed | Tent Meeting | ||
| Sky Gilbert | Schubert Lied | ||
| M. J. Kang | Noran Bang: The Yellow Room | ||
| 1999 | Anton Piatigorsky | Easy Lenny Lazmon and the Great Western Ascension | |
| Chris Abraham | Lenz | ||
| Karen Hines | HELLO...HELLO | ||
| Darren O'Donnell | White Mice | ||
| M. NourbeSe Philip | Coups and Calypsos | ||
| Peter Reitzel | Spirits | ||
2000s
| Year | Playwright | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Michael Redhill | Building Jerusalem | |
| Sky Gilbert | The Emotionalists | ||
| Dean Gilmour, Michele Smith | Chekhov's Shorts | ||
| Anton Piatigorsky | The Offering | ||
| Chaz Thorne | The Dogpatch | ||
| 2001 | Chris Earle | RADIO:30 | |
| Adam Nashman | The 3º Cabaret | ||
| Anton Piatigorsky | The Kabbalistic Psychoanalysis of Adam R. Tzaddik | ||
| Michael Spence | The Exit Room | ||
| David Widdicombe | Science Fiction | ||
| 2002 | Dean Gilmour, Michele Smith | Chekhov Longs...In the Ravine | |
| Hrant Alianak | The Walls of Africa | ||
| Ned Dickens | Icara | ||
| Sarah Phillips | Antigone | ||
| Jacob Richmond | The Qualities of Zero | ||
| Jennifer Tarver | History Play | ||
| 2003 | Mike McPhaden | Poochwater | |
| Dave Carley | Orchidelirum | ||
| Michael Kennard, John Turner | Mump and Smoot in Flux | ||
| Matthew MacFadzean | Richardthesecond | ||
| Richard Sanger | Two Words for Snow | ||
| Eric Woolfe | Grendelmaus | ||
| 2004 | Bluemouth Inc. | something about a river | |
| Darrell Dennis | Tales of an Urban Indian | ||
| Abbas Nalbandian, translated by Soheil Parsa and Peter Farbridge | Stories from the Rains of Love and Death | ||
| Beatriz Pizano | For Sale | ||
| Eric Woolfe | Dear Boss | ||
| 2005 | Tara Beagan | Thy Neighbour's Wife | |
| Erika Batdorf | Poetic License | ||
| Andy Massingham | Rough House | ||
| Gord Rand | Pond Life | ||
| Rick Roberts | Kite | ||
| 2006 | Anosh Irani | Bombay Black | |
| Sue Balint, Daryl Cloran, Alena Dzebo, Holly Lewis, Christopher Morris, Tanja Smoje and Dylan Trowbridge | Return: The Sarajevo Project | ||
| Mark Brownell | Medici Slot Machine | ||
| Alex Poch-Goldin | Cringeworthy | ||
| Judith Thompson | Enoch Arden by Alfred, Lord Jabber and his Catatonic Songstress | ||
| 2007 | Bruce Alcock, Kate Alton, Rafael Barreto-Rivera, bpNichol, Paul Dutton, Steve MacCaffrey, Ross Manson | The Four Horsemen Project | |
| Erika Batdorf, Christine Horne, Matthew Romantini | Gorey Story | ||
| Brandon Firla, Kurt Firla | SARSical | ||
| Catherine Hernandez | Singkil | ||
| Tony Nardi | Two Letters | ||
| 2008 | Anusree Roy | Pyaasa | |
| Brendan Gall | A Quiet Place | ||
| Michael Hollingsworth | Laurier | ||
| Beatriz Pizano | Madre | ||
| Michael Rubenfeld | My Fellow Creatures | ||
| 2009 | Anton Piatigorsky | Eternal Hydra | |
| Tara Beagan | Miss Julie: Sheh'mah | ||
| Layne Coleman | Tijuana Cure | ||
| Brendan Gall, Mike McPhaden, Rick Roberts, Julie Tepperman | The Gladstone Variations | ||
| David Yee | lady in the red dress |
2010s
2020s
| Year | Playwright | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Keith Barker | This Is How We Got Here | |
| Jani Lauzon | Prophecy Fog | ||
| Robin Luckwaldt, Natalia Bushnik | The Bathtub Girls | ||
| Daniel MacIvor | Let's Run Away | ||
| David Yee | No Foreigners | ||
| 2021 | No ceremony held due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada on theatre production in 2020. | ||
| 2022 | Bad New Days | Italian Mime Suicide | |
| Akosua Amo-Adem, Qasim Khan, Cheyenne Scott | The Home Project | ||
| Steven Elliott Jackson | Three Ordinary Men | ||
| Neha Poduval, Himanshu Sitlani | An IMM-Permanent Resident | ||
| Theatre Gargantua | A Tonic for Desperate Times | ||
| 2023 | Matthew MacKenzie, Mariya Khomutova | First Métis Man of Odesa | |
| Curtis Campbell, Daniel Krolik | Gay for Pay with Blake and Clay | ||
| Deanna H. Choi, Maddie Bautista, Erin Brubacher | Love You Wrong Time | ||
| Haley McGee | The Ex-Boyfriend Yard Sale | ||
| Hengameh E. Rice | Anahita's Republic | ||
| 2024 | Peter N. Bailey | Tyson's Song | |
| Cliff Cardinal | (Everyone I Love Has) A Terrible Fate (Befall Them) | ||
| Andrew Gurza, Ken Harrower, Frank Hull, Debbie Patterson, Brian Postalian, Jonathan Seinen | Access Me | ||
| Gregory Prest | Bremen Town | ||
| Payam Saeedi | Voiceless | ||
References
- Vit Wagner, "Two musicals in close battle for Toronto's Dora Awards". Ottawa Citizen, May 12, 1993.
- Robert Crew, "George Walker play sweeps Dora awards". Toronto Star, June 14, 1988.
- Ray Conlogue, "Nothing Scared, I Am Yours nominated in almost every category New plays top Dora awards list". The Globe and Mail, May 11, 1988.
- Robert Crew, "Passe Muraille sweeps up Doras". Toronto Star, June 26, 1989.
- "And the Dora nominees are...". The Globe and Mail, May 13, 1989.
- Ray Conlogue, "Three Doras each for Billy the Kid, Love and Anger". The Globe and Mail, June 26, 1990.
- Ray Conlogue, "Dora nominations harvested from sparse crop of new plays". The Globe and Mail, May 15, 1990.
- "Lilies, 7 Stories win top honors". Ottawa Citizen, June 18, 1991.
- H. J. Kirchhoff, "That Scatterbrain Booky and Lilies pace Dora race: Each production picks up eight nominations". The Globe and Mail, May 15, 1991.
- H. J. Kirchhoff, "Beattie and Cavendish take home Doras George F. Walker's Escape from Happiness named outstanding new play". The Globe and Mail, June 29, 1992.
- "Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star, May 14, 1992.
- Liam Lacey, "Bob's Kingdom and Ratbag lead Dora nominees". The Globe and Mail, May 11, 1993.
- Robert Crew and Christopher Hutsul, "Tarragon shows no mercy ; Takes 13 of 18 Dora awards in its theatre division Nothing for Mirvish, CanStage, Passe Muraille". Toronto Star, June 24, 2003.
- "Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star, May 22, 2003.
- J. Kelly Nestruck, "Urinetown is No. 1 at Doras: Outdoes Hairspray". National Post, June 28, 2005.
- Kenneth Jones, "Toronto's Seussical and We Will Rock You Are Top Getters in Dora Nominations". Playbill, June 8, 2007.
- Robert Cushman, "The play is the thing, not artificial categories; Dora stipulations make for some odd award nominees". National Post, June 27, 2009.
- Richard Ouzounian, "Cinderella cleans up with 7 Dora Awards". Toronto Star, June 25, 2013.
- Carly Maga, "Doras distribute the wealth among T.O.'s best: Canadian Opera big winner - with Siegfried taking five, La Traviata winning three". Toronto Star, June 28, 2016.
- J. Kelly Nestruck, "Jerusalem, Life After win big at Dora Mavor Moore Awards". The Globe and Mail, June 26, 2018.
- Smith, Mae (June 29, 2020). "2020 Dora Mavor Moore Award Winners". Intermission Magazine. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- "Dora Awards honour lifetime achievement in theatre as COVID-19 shuts down live shows: Dora Mavor Moore Awards celebrates lifetime contributions after COVID-19 pandemic shut down live performances". The Globe and Mail, June 16, 2021.
- Joshua Chong, "‘Sweeney Todd,’ ‘Italian Mime Suicide’ and ‘Wildfire’ win big at 2022 Dora Awards". Toronto Star, September 19, 2022.
- Aisling Murphy, "Nomination Announcements: 42nd Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards". Intermission Magazine, August 29, 2022.
- J. Kelly Nestruck, "Crow’s Theatre and Soulpepper share the spotlight at Dora Mavor Moore Awards". The Globe and Mail, June 28, 2023.
- Hélène Crowley, "Announcing the 2023 Dora Mavor Moore Award Winners". Intermission Magazine, June 27, 2023.
- Glenn Sumi, "Dora Awards 2024: ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’ earns four statuettes at Toronto’s top theatre honours". Toronto Star, June 24, 2024.
- Aisling Murphy, "TAPA announces 2024 Dora Award nominees". Intermission Magazine, May 28, 2004.