Toronto Theatre Critics Awards

The Toronto Theatre Critics Awards are annual awards, presented by a committee of theatre critics in the media of Toronto, Ontario, to honour achievements in the city's theatre production in the previous year.

The awards were launched in 2011 by John Colbourn of the Toronto Sun, Richard Ouzounian of the Toronto Star, Robert Cushman of the National Post and J. Kelly Nestruck of The Globe and Mail, as the first new opportunity for Toronto theatre critics to vote on or present awards since the discontinuation of the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award in 2001.[1]

The awards went on hiatus after 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on theatre production.[2] They returned in 2024.[3]

Awards

Best New Canadian Play

Year Recipient Play Ref
2012 Ins Choi Kim's Convenience [4]
2013 Hannah Moscovitch This Is War [5]
2014 Robert Lepage Needles and Opium [6]
2015 Michel Marc Bouchard Tom at the Farm [7]
2016 Jordan Tannahill Botticelli in the Fire & Sunday in Sodom [8]
2017 Norah Sadava, Amy Nostbakken Mouthpiece [9]
2018 Hannah Moscovitch Bunny [10]
Matthew MacKenzie Bears
2019 Ho Ka Kei Iphigenia and the Furies (On Taurian Land) [11]
2020 Anthony MacMahon, Thomas McKechnie The Jungle [12]
2024 Nick Green Casey and Diana [3]
Michael Healey The Master Plan
2025 Miriam Fernandes, Ravi Jain Mahabharata [13]
Veronica Hortigüela, Annie Luján Monks

Best New International Play

To be eligible for this award, a play only has to have received its first production in the Toronto market within the eligibility period, and does not necessarily have to be a world debut.

Year Recipient Play Ref
2012 Roland Schimmelpfennig The Golden Dragon [4]
2013 Mark O'Rowe Terminus [5]
2014 Sarah Ruhl Passion Play [6]
2015 Stephen Adly Guirgis The Motherfucker with the Hat [7]
2016 None presented [8]
2017 Annie Baker John [9]
2018 Stephen Karam The Humans [10]
2019 Tarell Alvin McCraney The Brothers Size [11]
2020 Annie Baker The Flick [12]
2024 Natalya Vorozhbit (Sasha Dugdale, translator) Bad Roads [3]
2025 Annie Baker Infinite Life [13]
Heidi Schreck What the Constitution Means to Me

Best New Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2012 Jacob Richmond, Brooke Maxwell Ride the Cyclone [4]
2016 Red One Theatre Collective The Chasse-Galerie [8]
2019 Hannah Moscovitch, Christian Barry, Ben Caplan Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story [11]

Best Production of a Play

Year Recipient Play Ref
2011 Theatre Passe Muraille, Canadian Stage The Middle Place [1]
2012 Tarragon Theatre The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs [4]
2013 Mirvish Productions Terminus [5]
2014 Soulpepper Theatre Angels in America [6]
Tarragon Theatre Lungs
2015 Mirvish Productions Arcadia [7]
Outside the March Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play
2016 Butcher's Block Collective, Why Not Theatre Butcher [8]
2017 The Company Theatre John [9]
Ex Machina, Canadian Stage 887
2018 Canadian Stage The Humans [10]
2019 Obsidian Theatre, Nightwood Theatre School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play [11]
2020 Outside the March, Crow's Theatre The Flick [12]
2024 Canadian Stage The Inheritance [3]
2025 Why Not Theatre, Canadian Stage Mahabharata [13]

Best Production of a Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2011 Lincoln Centre South Pacific [1]
2012 Acting Up Stage Company Caroline, or Change [4]
2013 Mirvish Productions The Book of Mormon [5]
2014 Canadian Stage London Road [6]
2015 Soulpepper Theatre Spoon River [7]
2016 Mirvish Productions Kinky Boots [8]
2017 Mirvish Productions Come from Away [9]
2018 Musical Stage Company Fun Home [10]
2019 Young People's Theatre Mary Poppins [11]
2020 Orin Wolf, Stylesfour Productions, Evamere Entertainment, Atlantic Theater Co. The Band's Visit [12]
2024 Crow’s Theatre, Musical Stage Company Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 [3]
2025 Soulpepper Theatre, Musical Stage Company, Crow’s Theatre, TO Live A Strange Loop [13]

Best Lead Performance in a Play

Year Recipient Play Ref
2011 David Ferry Blasted [1]
Yanna McIntosh Ruined
2012 Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Kim's Convenience [4]
Nicole Underhay The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs
2013 Stuart Hughes The Crucible [5]
Michelle Monteith Little One
2014 Damien Atkins Angels in America [6]
Carly Street Venus in Fur
2015 David Ferry Blackbird [7]
Fiona Reid Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
2016 Kawa Ada Bombay Black [8]
Laura Condlin An Enemy of the People
2017 Dawn Jani Birley Prince Hamlet [9]
André Sills "Master Harold"...and the Boys
2018 Lovell Adams-Gray Ma Rainey's Black Bottom [10]
Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools
2019 Eric Peterson The Father [11]
2020 Daren A. Herbert Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train [12]
Amy Rutherford A Streetcar Named Desire
2024 Sean Arbuckle Casey and Diana [3]
Amaka Umeh Sizwe Banzi Is Dead
2025 Ins Choi Kim's Convenience [13]
Noah Reid A Case for the Existence of God

Best Lead Performance in a Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2011 Louise Pitre A Year with Frog and Toad [1]
Tony Sheldon Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
2012 Sahr Ngaujah Fela! [4]
Arlene Duncan Caroline, or Change
2013 Bruce Dow Of a Monstrous Child: A Gaga Musical [5]
Bree Greig Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata
2014 Ramin Karimloo Les Misérables [6]
Chilina Kennedy The Little Mermaid
2015 Daren A. Herbert The Wild Party [7]
Trish Lindstrom Once
2016 Alan Mingo Jr. Kinky Boots [8]
Carly Heffernan One Night Only
2017 Beau Dixon Passing Strange [9]
Patricia Cano The (Post) Mistress
2018 Jordan Chang Mr. Shi and His Lover [10]
Hannah Levinson, Sara Farb, Laura Condlln Fun Home
2019 Robert Markus Dear Evan Hansen [11]
2020 Jully Black Caroline, or Change [12]
Chilina Kennedy The Band's Visit
2024 Damien Atkins De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail [3]
2025 Malachi McCaskill A Strange Loop [13]

Best Supporting Performance in a Play

Year Recipient Play Ref
2011 Richard McMillan After Akhmatova [1]
Cara Ricketts Eternal Hydra
2012 Kelli Fox The Penelopiad [4]
Philip Riccio The Test
2013 Maev Beaty Proud [5]
Alon Nashman THIS
2014 Ian D. Clark Cock [6]
Nancy Palk Angels in America
2015 Juan Chioran The Motherfucker with the Hat [7]
Beatriz Pizano Blood Wedding
2016 Anna Chatterton Independent Aunties [8]
Danny Ghantous A Line in the Sand
2017 James Daly [9]
Nora McLellan John
2018 Carolyn Fe Calpurnia [10]
Maxwell Haynes The Aliens
2019 Akosua Amo-Adem School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play [11]
Sabryn Rock The Royale
2020 Sarah Dodd Marjorie Prime [12]
2024 Jadyn Nasato Four Minutes [3]
Oyin Oladejo Three Sisters
2025 Nancy Palk Infinite Life [13]
Dan Mousseau There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or, The Born-Again Crow

Best Supporting Performance in a Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2011 Oliver Dennis The Fantasticks [1]
Kate Hennig Billy Elliot the Musical
2012 Deborah Hay Caroline, or Change [4]
Elliott Loran Ride the Cyclone
2013 Darrin Baker Falsettos [5]
Bryn McAuley Snow White: The Deliciously Dopey Family Musical
2014 James Monroe Iglehart Aladdin [6]
Lana Carillo The Little Mermaid
2015 Susan Gilmour The Wild Party [7]
Jacob MacInnis James and the Giant Peach
2016 Justin Bolt The Wizard of Oz [8]
AJ Bridel Kinky Boots
2017 Dan Chameroy Matilda the Musical [9]
Vanessa Sears Passing Strange
2018 Cynthia Dale Fun Home [10]
Derek Kwan Mr. Shi and His Lover
2019 Mary Fay Coady Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story [11]
Jessica Sherman Dear Evan Hansen
Ephraim Sykes Ain't Too Proud
2020 Vanessa Sears Caroline, or Change [12]
2024 George Krissa Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 [3]
Heeyun Park
2025 Julia Pulo Life After [13]

Best Ensemble Performance in a Play

Year Recipient Play Ref
2019 Rachel Cairns, Aisha Evelyna, Ruth Goodwin, Annelise Hawrylak, Ula Jurecka, Brittany Kay, Heath V. Salazar, Hallie Seline, Amaka Umeh, Robyn Stevan The Wolves [11]
2020 Colin Doyle, Amy Keating, Durae McFarlane, Brendan McMurtry-Howlett The Flick [12]
Kaleb Alexander, Mazin Elsadig, Alex McCooeye Pass Over
2024 Christopher Allen, Ben Carlson, Philippa Domville, Peter Fernandes, Tara Nicodemo, Yanna McIntosh, Mike Shara The Master Plan [3]
2025 Kragva, Moog, Wug Goblin: Macbeth [13]

Best Ensemble Performance in a Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2019 Rielle Braid, Peter Deiwick, Bruce Dow, Donna Garner, Kira Guloien, David Fox, Britta Johnson, Dave Autar, Mia Johnson, Zahra Khan, Abi Lee, Liam Lockhart-Rush, Alejandra Nunez, James Parchment, Danté Prince, Emmett Young, Jill Wood Dr. Silver: A Celebration of Life [11]
2020 Beau Dixon, Hailey Gillis, Kira Guloien, Andrew Penner Ghost Quartet [12]
2024 Dave Ball, Joel Cumber, Eva Foote, Peter Fernandes, Mike Jackson, Julia McLellan, Jessica Sherman, Margaret Thompson, Kelsey Verzotti, Jeremy Walmsley Kelly v. Kelly [3]
2025 Charlie Clark, Sierra Holder, Nathanael Judah, David Lopez, Marcus Nance, Matt Nethersole, David Andrew Reid, and Amaka Umeh A Strange Loop [13]

Best Solo Performance in a Play or Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2025 Haley McGee Age Is a Feeling [13]

Best Director of a Play

Year Recipient Play Ref
2011 Gina Wilkinson Wide Awake Hearts [1]
2012 Weyni Mengesha The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs [4]
2013 Mitchell Cushman Terminus [5]
2014 Albert Schultz Of Human Bondage [6]
2015 Soheil Parsa Blood Wedding [7]
2016 Ravi Jain Salt-Water Moon [8]
2017 Philip Akin "Master Harold"...and the Boys [9]
2018 Erin Brubacher Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools [10]
Jani Lauzon The Monument
2019 Nina Lee Aquino School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play [11]
Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu The Brothers Size
2020 Philip Akin Actually [12]
Pass Over
2024 Andrew Kushnir Bad Roads [3]
Leora Morris The Sound Inside
2025 Dylan Trowbridge Cock [13]

Best Director of a Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2012 Britt Small, Jacob Richmond Ride the Cyclone [4]
2013 Casey Nicholaw, Trey Parker 'The Book of Mormon [5]
2014 Jackie Maxwell London Road [6]
2015 Albert Schultz Spoon River [7]
2016 Tyrone Savage The Chasse-Galerie [8]
2017 Christopher Ashley Come from Away [9]
2018 Robert McQueen Fun Home [10]
2019 Christian Barry Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story [11]
2020 Marie Farsi Ghost Quartet [12]
Conor McPherson Girl from the North Country
2024 Gregory Prest De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail [3]
2025 Ilana Khanin I Was Unbecoming Then [13]

Best Design of a Play or Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2011 Robert Gardiner Studies in Motion: The Hauntings of Eadweard Muybridge [1]
2012 Creative team (names not specified in source) War Horse [4]
2013 Nick Blais Terminus [5]
2014 Lorenzo Savoini, Erika Connor, Mike Ross Of Human Bondage [6]
2015 Nick Blais, Ken Mackenzie, Lindsay Junkin, Sam Sholdice, Marcus Jamin Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play [7]
2016 Owen Belton, Alessandro Juliani, Meg Roe, Jay Gower Taylor, Tom Visser, Nancy Bryant Betroffenheit [8]
Lorenzo Savoini, Kimberly Purtell, Debashis Sinha Eurydice
2017 Robert Lepage, Jean-Sébastien Côté, Laurent Routhier, Félix Fradet-Faguy 887 [9]
2018 Nick Blais, Lindsay Dagger Junkin, Andre du Toit, Richard Feren Jerusalem [10]
2019 Patrick Lavender, Richard Feren, Michelle Bohn, Nick Bottomley The Nether [11]
2020 Nick Blais, Nick Bottomley, Anahita Dehbonehie, Richard Feren The Flick [12]
2024 Nick Blais, Heidi Chan, Anahita Dehbonehie, Niloufar Ziaee A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney [3]

Best Scenic Design of a Play or Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2025 Ken Mackenzie Last Landscape [13]

Best Lighting Design of a Play or Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2025 Bonnie Beecher, Jeff Pybus People, Places and Things [13]
Chris Malkowski Measure for Measure

Best Costume Design of a Play or Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2025 Pythia Oraculum [13]

Best Sound Design of a Play or Musical

Year Recipient Play Ref
2025 John Gzowski, Suba Sankaran Mahabharata [13]

Special Citation

Year Recipient Reason Ref
2011 Ken Gass Contributions to Toronto theatre as founder and artistic director of Factory Theatre [1]
2012 Eric Peterson Lifetime achievement as an actor [4]
2013 None presented [4]
2014 VideoCabaret Outstanding body of work [6]
2015 None presented [7]
2016 Videofag [8]
2017 Jon Kaplan Posthumous honour as a theatre critic [9]
2018 Bob Nasmith "untraditional, decades-long theatre career and his spirit of adventure and enquiry" [10]
2019 None presented [11]
2020 Outside the March creative response to the COVID-19 pandemic via the improvisational phone-based drama The Ministry of Mundane Mysteries [12]
2024 Daniel MacIvor Exceptional artistic achievement [3]
2025 Buddies in Bad Times, Native Earth Performing Arts There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or, The Born-Again Crow [13]
Weyni Mengesha Contributions to Toronto theatre as artistic director of Soulpepper Theatre from 2018 to 2025

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j J. Kelly Nestruck, "The Tonys, the Doras - now the critics weigh in on the best of the theatre season". The Globe and Mail, June 7, 2011.
  2. ^ J. Kelly Nestruck, "Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards laud Natasha and Pierre, The Master Plan and Casey and Diana". The Globe and Mail, June 11, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liam Donovan, "Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards announce 2024 winners". Intermission, June 11, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rachel Phan, "Five thumbs up for these plays; A matter of Kim's Convenience for Toronto Theatre Critics Awards". National Post, May 31, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k J. Kelly Nestruck, "Mirvish posts big and small wins at Toronto critics' awards". The Globe and Mail, May 23, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glenn Sumi, "Critics’ choice". Now, May 22, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l J. Kelly Nestruck, "Toronto theatre critics name their favourites of the year". The Globe and Mail, May 27, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m J. Kelly Nestruck, "Kinky Boots takes top honour at the Toronto Theatre Critics Awards". The Globe and Mail, May 27, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Karen Fricker, "Come From Away wins Toronto Theatre Critics Awards". Toronto Star, May 25, 2017.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l J. Kelly Nestruck, "Fun Home, Mr. Shi and His Lover top Toronto Theatre Critics Awards". The Globe and Mail, May 24, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o J. Kelly Nestruck, "Old Stock, School Girls are big winners at first gender-neutral Toronto Theatre Critics Awards". The Globe and Mail, May 22, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glenn Sumi, "Toronto theatre critics acknowledge best of a shortened season". Now, June 3, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Liam Donovan, "Announcing the winners of the 2025 Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards". Intermission, May 9, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.