Jury Chair (2006)

Leonard McHardy - A co-owner and co-founder of TheatreBooks in Toronto, a leading source of books on the performing arts in Canada for more than 25 years. Having acted and directed in Canada and the U.K., Mr. McHardy was invited to the Stratford Festival by Urjo Kareda and Robin Phillips to serve as Director of Press and Public Relations. He has served as a juror for the Dora Mavor Moore Awards in Toronto and the Chalmers Playwriting Awards. Currently he is the board President for the internationally acclaimed Necessary Angel Theatre Company. Mr. McHardy was also a board member and President of the Theatre Museum, and volunteers his time to numerous organizations, including PEN International.

Jury Members

Luc Boulanger is a well-known figure in Montreal’s media community. In addition to publishing articles, interviews and profiles in a wide range of magazines including Châtelaine, L'actualité and Elle-Québec, for 12 years Luc Boulanger was the Theatre, Dance and Visual Arts editor for the Montreal cultural weekly Voir. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of VIA Destinations magazine, published by Les Éditions GESCA, and a contributor to the La Presse newspaper. He is frequently invited to appear on radio and television programs on the Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec and TVA networks. Luc Boulanger is also the author of a compilation of interviews with Michel Tremblay, Pièces à conviction, published by Leméac in 2001, and contributed to a collection of essays on gay marriage, Les termes d’un débat, which was published by Éditions Liber / Le Devoir in 2004.

Mary Kerr has forged a distinguished career as a production designer in Canadian and International theatre, dance, opera, feature film, television, exhibition and special events design. Her sets and costumes have been seen at the Shaw, Stratford, Banff and Guelph Festivals and at most Toronto and major Canadian regional theatres. She has created for the Canadian Opera, the Vancouver Opera, The Banff Opera of the Twentieth Century, The Pacific Opera and The New Zealand Opera companies. Among her designs for dance are productions for the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada and The Danny Grossman Dance Theatre Company in Toronto and New York. Ms. Kerr has been the recipient of numerous theatre, film and television design awards including 7 Dora Mavor Moore Awards, 3 Sterling awards and numerous Gemini and Gemeaux nominations. She is a Professor of Design at the University of Victoria Theatre Department.

Diana Leblanc has received acclaim as an actress and director for film, television and theatre across Canada. She has worked with Soulpepper Theatre Company (Zoo Story), Stratford Festival (Long Day's Journey into Night), Théâtre Français de Toronto (Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme), Saidye Bronfman Centre (Rose), Mirvish Productions (Copenhagen) and Tarragon Theatre (The Glass Menagerie) among others. Film and television roles include This is Wonderland, Snakes & Ladders, Trudeau II, More Tales Of The City, Further Tales Of The City, North Of 60 and La Maison Suspendue (Gemini Award). Ms. Leblanc has also directed for the Calgary Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Canadian Opera Company, Opera Ontario, and the International Opera Centrum in Amsterdam. Ms. Leblanc is a graduate of the National Theatre School, a former Artistic Director of Théâtre Français de Toronto, and a founding member of Soulpepper Theatre Company. She is also the recipient of the Prix Alliance de l'Alliance Française de Toronto.

Keith Turnbull is a director, dramaturge and producer committed to contemporary and new work in both theatre and opera. He was artistic director of the Manitoba Theatre Centre; of Second Stage, Neptune Theatre; and founding artistic director of the NDWT Co. with which he started a First Nations theatre company from which emerged many of Canada's most noted native performers and writers. He is the past Artistic Director/Executive Producer of Banff Theatre Arts. He has taught extensively throughout Canada. He has directed over eighty plays in theatres across Canada and has directed opera/music theatre for Cultural Industries (Toronto), Music Theatre Wales, Peteå Chamber Opera (Sweden), Vale of Glamorgan Festival (Cardiff & Swansea), UK in NY Festival (New York) and Vancouver Opera. He is one of Canada’s most experienced producers and directors of contemporary opera.

Jury Members 2007
Jury Members 2005
Jury Members 2004
Jury Members 2003
Jury Members 2002
Jury Members 2001