The 45th annual Dora Awards, celebrating the best of the performing arts in Toronto, were handed out Monday night at Meridian Hall, at a ceremony hosted by Canadian stage actor Peter Fernandes.
“Mahabharata,” a propulsive retelling of the ancient Sanskrit epic of the same name, dominated the general theatre division with five wins, while the musical division saw several upsets, including in the outstanding production category, where the upstart company Shifting Ground Collective toppled the Canadian premiere of “A Strange Loop” and the Broadway-aimed “Life After.”
Here’s a full list of the winners in all 43 award categories.
General Theatre Division
Why Not Theatre’s two-part show “Mahabharata” is shown in this handout image.
Foteini Christofilopoulou/Why Not Theatre- Outstanding production: “Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit”
- Outstanding new play: “Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit” by Miriam Fernandes and Ravi Jain
- Outstanding direction: Ravi Jain, “Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit”
- Outstanding performance by an individual: Miriam Fernandes, “Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit”
- Outstanding performance by an ensemble: Jewell Bowry, Jasmine Case, Asha James, Trinity Lloyd, Shauna Thompson and Sophia Walker, “Flex”
- Outstanding scenic/projection design: Nick Blais (scenic) and Laura Warren (projection), “seven methods of killing kylie jenner”
- Outstanding costume design: Ronnie Burkett, “Wonderful Joe”
- Outstanding lighting design: Raha Javanfar, “Flex”
- Outstanding sound design/composition: John Gzowski and Suba Sankaran, “Mahabharata: Karma (Part 1), The Life We Inherit”
Independent Theatre Division
Kwaku Okyere, Louise Lambert, Sarah Murphy-Dyson and Nickeshia Garrick in “People, Places and Things.”
Elana Emer/Coal Mine Theatre- Outstanding production: “People, Places and Things”
- Outstanding new play: “The Tempest: A Witch in Algiers,” by Makram Ayache
- Outstanding direction: Diana Bentley and Alyssa Martin, “People, Places and Things”
- Outstanding performance by an individual: Louise Lambert, “People, Places and Things”
- Outstanding performance by an ensemble: Oliver Dennis, Nickeshia Garrick, Farhang Ghajar, Matthew Gouveia, Sam Grist, Sarah Murphy-Dyson, Kwaku Okyere, Fiona Reid and Kaleb Tekeste, “People, Places and Things”
- Outstanding scenic/projection design: Adam Paolozza and Ken MacKenzie (scenic); Roxanne Ignatius (scenic marionettes); Graeme Black Robinson, Clelia Scala and Puppetmongers Theatre (additional puppets), “Last Landscape”
- Outstanding costume design: Atsuko Kiyokawa, “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)”
- Outstanding lighting design: Yann Becker, “Mukashi, Mukashi (Once Upon a Time)”
- Outstanding sound design/composition: Cheldon Paterson (SlowPitchSound), “Last Landscape”
Musical Theatre Division
Jameson Mosher and the company of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Taylor Long/Shifting Ground Collective- Outstanding production: “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
- Outstanding new musical/new opera: “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White,” by Sean Mayes (composer) and HAUI (librettist)
- Outstanding performance by an individual: Malachi McCaskill, “A Strange Loop”
- Outstanding performance by an ensemble: Sierra Holder, Amaka Umeh, Matt Nethersole, David Andrew Reid, Nathanael Judah, Marcus Nance, Charlie Clark and David Lopez, “A Strange Loop”
- Outstanding creative direction: Jennifer Walls (director), Nicholas Rocque (choreographer) and Michael Ippolito (musical director), “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
- Outstanding achievement in design: Ming Wong (costume), “The Wizard of Oz: The Toto-ly Awesome Family Musical”
Opera Division
Kirsten MacKinnon as Christine and Queen Hezumuryango as Ebba Sparre in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of “La Reine-garçon.”
Michael Cooper/Canadian Opera Company- Outstanding production: “La Reine-garçon”
- Outstanding performance by an individual: Kirsten MacKinnon, “La Reine-garçon”
- Outstanding performance by an ensemble: Neema Bickersteth, Adrienne Danrich and SATE, “Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White”
- Outstanding creative direction: Angela Konrad (director) and Johannes Debus (musical Director), “La Reine-garçon”
- Outstanding achievement in design: Catherine Meyburgh (projection), “Wozzeck”
Theatre for Young Audiences Division
The company of “Alligator Pie.”
Dahlia Katz/Soulpepper- Outstanding production: “Alligator Pie”
- Outstanding new play: “Patty Picker,” by Evan Bawtinheimer
- Outstanding direction: “Severn Thompson (director) and James Smith (music supervisor), “Alligator Pie”
- Outstanding performance by an individual: Alexandra Laferrière, “Taking Care of Maman”
- Outstanding performance by an ensemble: Alicia Barban, Belinda Corpuz, Ben Kopp, Ruaridh MacDonald and Haneul Yi, “Alligator Pie”
- Outstanding achievement in design: Logan Raju Cracknell (lighting), “Alligator Pie”
Dance Division
“Big Time Miss” won three Doras in the dance division.
Drew Berry/Fall Dance North- Outstanding production: “Everything I Wanted to Tell You (But Couldn’t, So Here it is Now)”
- Outstanding original choreography: Jessie Garon, “Everything I Wanted to Tell You (But Couldn’t, So Here it is Now)”
- Outstanding performance by an individual: Sully Malaeb Proulx, “Everything I Wanted to Tell You (But Couldn’t, So Here it is Now)”
- Outstanding performance by an ensemble: Drew Berry, Brayden Jamil Cairns, Sam Grist, Steph Harkness and Natasha Poon Woo, “Big Time Miss”
- Outstanding original sound composition: Semiah and Jacob Vanderham, “Big Time Miss”
- Outstanding achievement in design: Noah Feaver (lighting), “Big Time Miss”
Other
The company of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”
Taylor Long/Shifting Ground Collective- Outstanding touring production: “Wilma”
- Outstanding innovative experience: “Game of Life”
- Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award: “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”
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