Toronto – March 11, 2024 – The Gina Wilkinson Prize Committee is pleased to announce that Warona Setshwaelo is the recipient of the 13th annual Gina Wilkinson Prize. Gina’s Prize recognizes theatre artists from underrepresented genders which includes cis women, trans women, and non-binary people with a demonstrated body of work, who are recognized by their communities for their practice, leadership and dedication to their craft.
2024 Recipient
Warona Setshwaelo
Warona Setshwaelo is a Tio’tia:ke (Montreal) based artist, with Tswana and Zulu roots. She moved to Canada on a whim. The decision was made in a few weeks, and a couple of months later she landed here with 2 suitcases, $450, a poor grasp of French and zero knowledge of the theatre communities around the country. It was 3 weeks before her 30th birthday. It’s been 17 years, and she is extremely proud of the community she has built and that has embraced her.
Warona has sat on the board of the English Language Arts Network as a theatre representative and the Quebec Drama Federation as Vice President. She was the Co-Manager of the Artist Mentorship Program at Black Theatre Workshop for 8 years. She is a META nominee and Award recipient, as well as the Montreal ACTRA Woman of the Year (2023) and Victor Knight Community Leader award (2021). Leading classes at Concordia University and the National Theatre School, she is also Co-Owner of MW Mentorship.
Some acting credits in TV and film include: The Disappearance, 19-2, Quantico, Death Wish, On the Basis of Sex and White House Down; and video games: Assassin’s Creed Origins, Valhalla and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon to name a few. Her first love, the stage, still features prominently in her life and she has been fortunate to work with companies such as Imago, Centaur, Segal Centre, BTW, Teesri Duniya, Scapegoat Carnivale, RMTC, The Belfry, Tarragon, Repercussion and Prairie Theatre Exchange.
Artist Statement
“I come from a family of activists. Raised on the philosophy of Each One Teach One. Though rewarding, it can also be relentless and sometimes darkness almost prevails. For me, that light always comes from communing with those who did the work before me and those who continue the work beside me.
I am humbled and delighted to be in the company of all the recipients and finalists of Gina’s Prize. Not just for the recognition, for which I am incredibly grateful to the committee and Gina Wilkinson, herself, but especially for the community. To be acknowledged in this way is a unique privilege and honour, and a refreshing reminder that the light is always all around us, we have but to look and connect.
Enormous gratitude to Quincy Armorer for his incredibly generous nomination. This award is dedicated to my parents, who always lead by example.”
Finalists
Marie Beath Badian
Marie Beath Badian is a T’karonto-based award-winning, Filipino-Canadian playwright, theatre maker, performer, and arts educator.
Her plays include Common, The Waltz, Prairie Nurse, The Best Friend Blanket Fort Show, The Making of St. Jerome and Novena.
Common was longlisted for the UK’s 2019 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, awarded the 2022 Recipient of The Playwright Guild of Canada’s Tom Hendry Award for New Drama. The Waltz was named The Globe and Mail’s Critic’s Pick and included in its 2022 Top Ten Toronto Productions.
Marie Beath is the 2024 Senior-Playwright-in-Residence and a two-time alumnus of The Banff Playwrights Lab. She has developed work with Cahoots Theatre Company, Tarragon Theatre, The Factory Theatre and The Stratford Festival’s Foerster Bernstein New Play Development Program. She was Playwright-in-Residence at fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company, Project: Humanity and The Blyth Festival.
Prairie Nurse and The Waltz are part of a multi-generational trilogy spanning fifty-years, set in rural Saskatchewan. The third play, The Cottage Guest, is in development. All three are commissioned by The Blyth Festival. www.mariebeath.com
Lianna Makuch
Lianna Makuch (she/her) is a Ukrainian Canadian playwright, director, performer, and co-Artistic Director of Pyretic Productions based in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton). She has travelled several times to Ukraine to research and develop her plays Barvinok and Alina, which have her garnered recognition across the country and in Ukraine, including the Shevchenko Foundation’s REACH Award, an Edmonton Artist Trust Fund Award, and was shortlisted for the Alberta Playwrighting Award. Lianna’s directorial debut, First Métis Man of Odesa, earned her a Dora Award for Outstanding Direction, has been seen on stages across the country, and later this year will be presented at Soulpepper Theatre and the National Arts Centre. Lianna is thrilled to be directing A Christmas Carol at the Citadel Theatre in the 2024/25 theatre season. Passionate about activism, Lianna has also been a key advocate for raising awareness about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine through various fundraising initiatives and advocacy efforts.
Fiona Sauder
Fiona Sauder (she/they) is a director, playwright, performer and arts educator. She is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Bad Hats Theatre, a company dedicated to the development of new interdisciplinary works for multigenerational audiences.
Fiona’s writing has been presented across Canada and their work has received multiple Dora Mavor Moore Awards. Across various disciplines, Fiona has collaborated with companies including Soulpepper Theatre, Canadian Stage, The Shaw Festival, The Musical Stage Company, Quote Unquote Collective, Nightwood Theatre, Manitoba Theatre For Young People, The Blyth Festival, Young Peoples Theatre, Theatre Gargantua, Carousel Players, The Citadel Theatre, Driftwood Theatre, YES Theatre, The Capitol Theatre, and The Orillia Opera House.
Nominations and Selection Committee
The 31 nominations from across the country spoke to an incredibly diverse, dynamic and passionate group of artistic leaders who are serving their communities. They were inspiring, original and dedicated to creating positive spaces centered around care and innovative practice.
About the Prize
Gina’s Prize pays tribute to Gina Wilkinson, who passed away in 2010, and whose dedication, vision and indomitable spirit imbued her work and her life.
Gina’s interdisciplinary artistry as a dancer, visual artist, actor, playwright and director established her as a daring, strong, inventive leader and collaborator in the Canadian theatre. She believed in the necessity of fun in the rehearsal hall, on and off stage, and in all aspects of one’s life. In the spirit of Gina’s appetite for life, the prize money is a gift to be used in any way the recipient chooses. The award recipient receives a $10,000 prize, and $2,500 is awarded to each of the finalists.
The Gina Wilkinson Prize Committee (Micheline Chevrier, Krista Jackson, Ann-Marie Kerr, Lindsay Lachance, Kimberley Rampersad, Tom Rooney & Tanisha Taitt) extends its heartfelt thanks to all of our supporters. Through their incredible generosity, the spirit of Gina lives on.
To contribute a gift to Gina’s Prize: https://oafdn.ca/make-a-donation/.
Gina’s Prize honours artists who work across Turtle Island on both treaty and unceded territories. Through this prize, we look to acknowledge and amplify their relationship to the land they live on and the communities they serve.
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For more information about the award:
Krista Jackson & Kimberley Rampersad, Committee Co-Leaders
ginasprize@gmail.com
www.ginasprize.ca
For more information about the Ontario Arts Foundation:
Bruce Bennett, Executive Director
Ontario Arts Foundation
416-969-7413 | bbennett@oafdn.ca