Playwrights Kevin Loring and Suzanne Lebeau Awarded the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama

Summary: The NAC is proud to announce that Kevin Loring and Suzanne Lebeau have been awarded the 2009 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama.

The National Arts Centre is proud to announce that Kevin Loring, a member of the NAC English Theatre Playwrights in Residence for the 40^th Anniversary Season, and Suzanne Lebeau, have been awarded the 2009 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama. Mr. Loring the English prize for his debut full-length play Where the Blood Mixes and Ms. Lebeau was awarded the French prize for Le bruit des os qui craquent.

Where the Blood Mixes is about a survivor of the residential school system and his reunion with his daughter after two decades apart. It was a hit at the Luminato Festival in Toronto and Magnetic North Theatre Festival in 2008 and will be on Canada-wide tour in 2010, beginning in Victoria at the Belfry Theatre, going to Vancouver in February for the Cultural Olympiad at the Firehall Theatre, then to Winnipeg at Prairie Theatre Exchange and finishing at Toronto’s Factory Theatre after stopping at the National Arts Centre Studio in Ottawa in March.

“I was very excited to receive the news,” said Mr. Loring. “I’m deeply honoured, this is a dream come true.”

Le bruit des os qui craquent brings exceptional sensitivity to a potentially horrific subject matter, a story of two child soldiers who flee the battlefield in search of their lost childhood. The play was performed in the NAC Studio last month after the show enjoyed a month-long run last spring at Montreal's Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui, where it attracted audiences of all ages. In February 2010, the Comédie-Française in Paris will present the world premiere of a new production.

Ms. Lebeau is the Artistic Director of Le Carrousel Theatre Company in Montreal. She is an internationally acclaimed playwright who focuses on young audiences. More than 100 of her productions have been presented on five continents world-wide.

Le bruit des os qui craquent has been described as a courageous and beautiful work. Suzanne Lebeau looks at the devastating effects of war on children. She broaches the question of individual and collective responsibility and proposes empathy as the road toward hope and ultimately redemption.

“I couldn't forget the faces of those children. I had to write about them, even if that meant taking you all with me on a hasty, rough and upsetting journey. Once again, thank you for choosing the cry of freedom over the lethal silence of indifference,” said Ms Lebeau.

Mr. Loring is a member of the N’lakap’mux First Nation (Thompson Indians) in Lytton BC. As an actor he has performed in numerous plays across Canada including Marie Clements’ Burning Vision, and the National Art Centre’s production of Copper Thunderbird. He recently starred in the feature film Pathfinder. He is a recipient of the 2005 Vancouver Arts Award for Emerging Theatre Artist and was the 2006 Artist in Residence at The Playhouse Theatre Company in Vancouver. Recently Kevin co-produced, co-wrote and co-hosted a documentary titled The Canyon War, which chronicles the Fraser Canyon War of 1858 between the incoming gold miners of the Fraser River gold rush and the N’lakap’mux Nation. He is a graduate of Studio 58, and the Full Circle First Nations Performance: Ensemble Training Program.

Mr. Loring and Ms. Lebeau, along with the other literary winners, will be presented with their awards by Governor General Michaëlle Jean at an evening gala at Rideau Hall on November 26.

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