March 20, 2018, Ottawa, ON – The Ottawa Little Theatre’s 77th Annual National One-Act Playwrighting Competition, this year received 54 entries from across the country. The winners join a long list of Canadian literary luminaries including Robertson Davies, John Murrell, Erika Ritter, Catherine Banks and Ken Mitchell.

Winners were identified through a double blind adjudication process, and all of the plays were submitted under pen names. The adjudicators’ names were confidential until the winners were chosen.

 

First prize, Ottawa Little Theatre Award:

WORM by Marc Blanchard (Toronto, Ontario)

Adjudicator’s comments for WORM:

  • “an elegant and subversive play that places you in a world where love and death coexist, fighting for their inevitable mutual triumph. This vibrant piece of writing hits a lot of sublime notes. I felt like I’d discovered gold after I’d read it.” – Bobby Theodore
  • “A poetic, dark, and at times instructive play written in a fresh voice that deals with personal freedom and loss.” – Robin C. Whittaker
  • A well-crafted, moving, poignant piece of work that truly earns the sometimes overworked adjectives of “heartwarming”, “quirky”, and “bittersweet”.- Gordon Portman

 

Second prize, Dorothy White Award:

Odd One Out by Maureen Gualtieri (Toronto, Ontario)

Adjudicator’s comments for Odd One Out:

  • “A grand story and deeply motivated characters stand out in this compelling take on the noir genre, a resonant work that is a hauntingly dark meditation on loss and love.” – Bobby Theodore
  • “The articulate and distinct voices of the play’s sophisticated, erudite characters drive the action.” – Robin C. Whittaker
  • “An intriguing glimpse at an important piece of queer history, suspensefully entwined with a clever, intriguing murder mystery.” – Gordon Portman

 

Third prize, The Gladys Cameron Watt Award (sponsored by the Ottawa Chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women):

Watch Me Drown by Liam Salmon (Edmonton, Alberta)

Adjudicator’s comments for Watch Me Drown:

  • “A painful past surges to surface and forces a group of friends to face brutal truths in this artful exploration of appropriation and responsibility.” – Bobby Theodore
  • “A highly inventive treatment of contemporary shaming and homophobia through the imaginative lens of art.” – Robin C. Whittaker
  • “A startling and memorable story with tightly created and believable characters.” – Robin C. Whittaker
  • “A highly theatrical journey into intense, thought-provoking questions of consent, friendship, and queer identity.” – Gordon Portman

 

Honorary Mentions:

  1. The IKEA Play by Matt Hertendy (Ottawa, Ontario)

Adjudicator’s comments for The IKEA Play include:

  • “a young couple purchases a new bed to save their failing relationship but putting the pieces together proves to be hilariously impossible. A gem of a play that delivers what it promises.” – Bobby Theodore
  • “A clever and humourous play about something we can all relate to: the effects of building Ikea furniture on our love lives and on the spiders on the wall.” – Robin C. Whittaker
  • “with a sweet but pointed extended metaphor, Ikea puts the Allen key and screws to romantic comedy convention” – Gordon Portman
  1. A Bird or A Plane by Natalie Axon (Toronto, Ontario)

Adjudicator’s comments for The IKEA Play include:

  • “a mild-mannered comic book store owner rediscovers his secret identity and the power to heal in this imaginative character drama that tackles a tricky subject with humour and levity” – Bobby Theodore
  • “Revisits 9/11 through a personal narrative that incorporates superhero elements and a touch of magic realism to comment of the nature of heroism.” – Robin C. Whittaker
  • “A play about superheroes that manages to hover above comic book clichés.” Robin C. Whittaker
  • “seeks to lift triumph out of personal and cultural tragedy, offering hope and a glimpse of an unusual kind of courage” – Gordon Portman

 

The Sybil Cooke Award for ‘for Children or Young People’ was not awarded this year.

Public readings, hosted by a guest dramaturge, of the three winner’s plays will be staged by OLT directors and actors on Sunday, April 15. A public dramaturgy workshop on Saturday April 14 in the Jannigan Studio.  Ticket information and other details will be available at www.ottawalittletheatre.com.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Chris Ralph, VP Artistic
613-744-5353
vp.artistic@ottawalittletheatre.com
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Our 2018 adjudicators were:

Bobby Theodore is a screenwriter, playwright, and translator. Bobby has worked on several TV series, including Murdoch Mysteries, Flashpoint, and Knuckleheads (an adaptation of the hit Québecois cartoon, Têtes à claques) and he wrote for the acclaimed CBC radio drama, Afghanada. Nominated for a Governor General Award in 2000 for his translation of 15 Seconds by François Archambault, Bobby has now translated over 25 plays from French to English. For the stage, Bobby co-created 300 Tapes (with Ame Henderson), a devised performance that premiered at the Theatre Centre in Toronto and at Alberta Theatre Projects (ATP) in Calgary. His translation of François Archambault’s You Will Remember Me premiered at ATP, won a Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding New Play, and was produced across Canada and in the USA. Bobby is the resident dramaturg and host of the Glassco Translation Residency in Tadoussac.

Robin C. Whittaker teaches, directs, writes, and creates theatre with students at Fredericton, New Brunswick’s St. Thomas University where he is Associate Professor and Drama Advisor in the Department of English and Artistic Producer and Faculty Advisor for Theatre St. Thomas. He has written plays produced in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Waterloo, and Fredericton and has directed several maritime premieres for Theatre St. Thomas. His research focuses on nonprofessionalizing, participatory theatre companies like Ottawa Little Theatre and Alumnae Theatre Company, and his publications appear in journals that include Theatre Research in Canada and Canadian Theatre Review. He is editor of the new play anthology Hot Thespian Action: Ten Premiere Plays from Walterdale Playhouse (2009 AUP) and founding editor of the play reviewing site STU Reviews. He currently serves as Vice President of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research (CATR).

Gordon Portman Inter-disciplinary theatre artist Gordon Portman was Staff Dramaturge at the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre from 2011 to 2014, where he oversaw the creation and development of dozens of new plays. An accomplished script analyst and editor, he has also worked as dramaturge for the St. Lawrence Stage Company, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Workshop West Theatre, Walterdale Theatre, and for a large number of independent writers. He has sat on several granting juries and lectures on various topics related to writing at Brandon University, where he has also accumulated extensive experience in the field of opera (stage direction, libretto adaptation, and singing/actor training). He also works as a director (“Grounded”, Live Five, Saskatoon SK) and actor (“Henry IV”, Saskatoon Shakespeare Lab, Saskatoon SK).