Congratulations to the winners of the CATR 2021 Grants & Scholarships!
Citations for the awards are listed below and a video announcement is available here: CATR Announcements 2021 Final.mp4.
McCallum Scholarship
- Morgan Johnson
Johnson’s research-creation project explores the gendered narratives of domestication that have structured Canadian settler colonialism, how they manifested historically, and how the settlers continue to embody them. The committee especially appreciated Morgan’s creative application of the archival research in questioning and subverting racial and gendered narratives and her critical methods of engaging with indigenous scholarship through a 2 week arts residency, using clown theories, and writing a research based script.
Lawrence Scholarship (co-recipients)
- Natasha Visosky
Natasha’s project takes up the important consideration of the relationship between theatre and mental health, bringing in considerations of immersive theatre, Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty, and neurocognition. In addition to the project’s timely exploration of mental health and performance, the committee was particularly impressed by the support Natasha has in her recommenders and mentors who spoke to not only the importance of her project but also her voice and presence in our field. - Rémi Labrecque
Rémi’s research focuses on the representation of alterity in Fransaskois, and the project we hope to help support with the Lawrence Scholarship involves, in part, facilitating a roundtable discussion with a diverse group of playwrights working in a minority francophone context, which will then consider the ways in which minorities are represented on the stage in Western Canadian francophone theatre, the importance of diversity, inclusion and equity in the performing arts and the integration of marginalized voices in dramatic expression.
CATR Grants
- Benjamin Gillespie, Hannah Rackow, Signy Lynch
This project offers a symposium on career planning and outcomes for theatre and performance studies graduate students and recent graduates. Building on the trio’s previous work on the CATR Emerging Scholars Taskforce Follow up committee, their project is a 1 day gathering filled with practical workshops and networking opportunities in February 2022. We are eager to see how this continues to support and amplify the work of emerging scholars, and excited that Benjamin, Hannah, and Signy have devoted time, energy, and support to this endeavor. - Patrick James
James’s project “Re*Spire” is in interdisciplinary project that combines dance, technology, performance art, and responses to COVID. A collaboration with Robin Poitras, Artistic Director of New Dance Horizons (co-creator/performer) and Krista Solheim (performer), the interdisciplinary nature of this project was especially appealing to the committee as it brings together performance, technology, dance, and ritual as a way to confront timely social situations. - Taiwo Afolabi
Afolabi’s project “Re-imagining and Rebuilding the Prairie Theatre Sector through Critical Dialogue” is a web series of 10 episodes that will focus on critical issues pertinent to advancing the ecology of theatre on the Prairies. The committee applauds Taiwo’s focus within this project on the intersections of race, identity, representation, and systemic change, and we look forward to seeing and hearing more about the project’s development as part of next spring’s CATR. - Taylor Graham
Graham and 3 collaborators (Lauren McLean, Kiera Obbard, and Joseph Shea-Carter) will convene a multidisciplinary conference with a focus on performing/envisioning utopias at the University of Guelph. The event, focusing on social and environmental justice, is interested in examining and problematizing the concept of utopia and will be wonderfully interdisciplinary and inclusive of scholars, artists, public intellectuals, and community members at all stages in their careers, with particular interest in supporting graduate students and upper level undergraduates.