Anusree Roy Wins Carol Bolt Award For Playwrights

At a reception organized by Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC), the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT), and Playwrights Canada Press on October 30, 2011 at the Epicure Café & Grill in Toronto, Anusree Roy was presented with the 10th annual Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights for her critically acclaimed play Brothel #9.

According to Jury Chair Florence Gibson MacDonald, "Anusree's play stood out because it was such a compelling drama. The play reads like a novel by Zola or Dickens." The other members of the jury were Jodi Armstrong, Don Hannah, and Estelle Shook.

Brothel #9 is Anusree Roy's fourth play. Earlier this year it captured six Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations and went on to win the award for Outstanding New Play. Her other plays include Roshni, Letters to my Grandma, and Pyaasa, all produced at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto.

Ms. Roy has also been a playwright-in-residence at the Canadian Stage Company (2008-2009), Theatre Passe Muraille (2009-2010), and the Blyth Festival (2010-2011). She won the RBC Emerging Artist Award in 2009 and the K.M. Hunter Artist Award for 2011. She holds an M.A from the University of Toronto and is the co-artistic director of Theatre Jones Roy.

The other finalists for the 2011 Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights were Catherine Banks (It Is Solved by Walking), Marie Clements (Tombs of the Vanishing Indian), Mieko Ouchi (Nisei Blue), and David Yee (paper SERIES).

The Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights, named after one of PGC's founding members, is given annually to a member of PGC who has premiered an original play within the past year. A juried panel selects the winner from of the eligible plays submitted. The winner of the Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights receives $3,000 and the opportunity to be published.

Past recipients of the award include Kent Stetson, Daniel Goldfarb, Florence Gibson MacDonald, Mieko Ouchi, John Mighton, Stephen Massicotte, Colleen Murphy, Vern Thiessen, and Michael Nathanson.

Funding for the award is generously sponsored by the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, Playwrights Canada Press, and Playwrights Guild of Canada.

Playwrights Guild of Canada will host its 2012 awards reception at Stage West (Mississauga, Ontario) next fall. Along with the Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights, two new awards will be distributed by PGC, Best New Comedy ($5000) and Best New Musical ($5000). These new awards are sponsored by Stage West Restaurants.

Guidelines and applications for PGC's 2012 Carol Bolt Award for Playwrights will be available online in January 2012. Visit www.playwrightsguild.ca/awards for information on this and other awards presented by Playwrights Guild of Canada.