JIVESH PARASRAM and TOM ARTHUR DAVIS joint recipients of the 4th annual Crow's Theatre RBC Rising Star Emerging Director Prize

Sep 20, 2018

For outstanding work as emerging directors, Crow’s announces Jivesh Parasram and Tom Arthur Davis as the joint recipients of the Crow’s Theatre RBC Rising Star Emerging Director Prize. Designed to encourage and celebrate our most outstanding early-career stage directors, the Prize provides a $5,000 award to emerging Canadian directors, as well as a residency at Crow’s Theatre.

“Jiv and Tom have charted a unique course as collaborators and directors. Their presence is ubiquitous in Toronto, and across the country as directors, producers, and champions of underrepresented voices in the theatre. They are standard bearers for the new wave of artistic leadership in our community,” says Crow’s Theatre Artistic Director Chris Abraham.

Tom Arthur Davis is the founding artistic director of Pandemic Theatre. Originally from the unceded territory of the Algonquin people (Ottawa), Tom has toured his work across Turtle Island and overseas. As an artist, he is interested in elevating marginalized voices through facilitating the creation of new work. His works for the stage include Mahmoud (co-writer/director), Take d Milk, Nah? (co-creator/director), The Only Good Indian (co-creator), and Situational Anarchy (director). He is directing Johnnie Walker’s upcoming Shove It Down My Throat, Pandemic’s co-production with Buddies in Bad Times in April 2019.

“Being awarded the RBC Rising Star Emerging Director Prize offers a unique opportunity to continue incubating my skills as a theatre creator and artistic leader,” says Davis, “I am excited to collaborate with Chris and the rest of the Crow’s team to find innovative ways to engage with the Toronto theatre community, experimenting with theatrical forms of audience activation.”

Jiv Parasram is a multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and facilitator of Indo-Caribbean descent. His work has played across Canada and internationally. His work centres around de-colonial aesthetics and the intersections of performance and political action. He is the founding Artistic Producer at Pandemic Theatre, the outgoing Associate Artistic Producer at Theatre Passe Muraille and the incoming Artistic Director of Rumble Theatre. He grew up in Mi’kmaki (Halifax) and now splits his time between T’koronto (Toronto) and The Unceded Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver.) Select projects include: Take d Mik, Nah? (Performer/Co-Creator), The Only Good Indian (Co-Creator), Victim Impact (Director), Daughter (Co-Creator) and the Sound of the Beast (Co-Director/Dramaturge).

“It’s an immense honour to be awarded this prize to have dedicated time focussed on deepening the collaborative practice I share with Tom,” says Parasram, “It’s deeply meaningful to me that the team at Crow’s recognizes the importance of decentralized artistic leadership and I believe it speaks to their forward-looking role in our community. ”

Following a call for submissions in Spring 2018, a jury unanimously selected Jiv and Tom from an exceptional group of theatrical innovators in the early stages of their directing practice. The jury took into account:

the merits of the applicants’ current body of work;
their creative potential;
the impact of artistic residency on the up-and-coming director’s professional development.

Concerning the prestigious prize created by the RBC Foundation, Tom and Jiv offer this: “We are now entering a decade of creating projects and building spaces for political disruption with Pandemic Theatre. In the coming years the company is expanding to a more national focus, and building our international presence. This residency allows us to remain grounded with our origins in T’koronto and re-contextualize our role in both our local and wider communities.”

The RBC Emerging Artists Project helps artists bridge the gap from emerging to established and supports organizations that provide the best platform to advance their career trajectory. The RBC Foundation supports arts organizations and artists in a range of genres, including visual art, music, theatre, performance, literature and film. Past recipients of the Crow’s Theatre RBC Rising Star Emerging Director Prize are Sarah Kitz (director of Ellie Moon's upcoming What I call her at Streetcar Crowsnest this fall), Zachary Russell (director of last season’s Dora Award-winning The Emancipation of Ms. Lovely) and Rebecca Northan (who helmed the Spontaneous Theatre program at Crow’s Theatre and is the creator of the smash-hit Blind Date).

Chris Abraham adds, “With its ongoing commitment to emerging artists in Canada, RBC has set its sights on the most critical group in need of support for a vibrant culture - the cultural innovators who seek to shake up the complacency of the world they inherit. Jiv and Tom are truly worthy recipients of this honour."