Our 2015-2016 season will welcome to the city several members of the national theatre community, and we’re very pleased to announce many of the artists involved in upcoming productions at TNB have been included among the nominees for the 2015 Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Dora Awards), presented by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts.  In fact, the first three productions of our season include 2015 Dora Award nominees!

Byron Abalos (You Play Beautifully: Sept 9-13, 2015) received a nomination for Outstanding Ensemble as part of Soulpepper Theatre Company’s production of Twelve Angry Men.  Byron has been nominated for three Dora Awards in the past (two for acting and one for producing) and was named one of Toronto’s Top 10 Theatre Artists of 2010 by NOW Magazine.

Blues musician/actor/playwright Raoul Bhanjea (Life, Death and the Blues: Sept 17-18, 2015) has been nominated for Outstanding Performance for his role in the Theatre Passe Muraille production of Life, Death and the Blues. Written by Bhanjea, Life, Death and the Blues also received a nomination for Outstanding Production in Musical Theatre.

Director Soheil Parsa (Vigil: October 22-November 1, 2015) was recently awarded the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award for Best Director of a Play for Blood Wedding (Modern Times Stage Company/Aluna Theatre).  This year’s Dora Award nominations recognised Soheil once again for his work on this production, earning nominations for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Production in Independent Theatre.

View a complete listing of this year’s Dora Moore Award nominees here.

On the home front, we’re pleased to announce Norm Foster’s return to the acting stage.  Norm will play the role of Mr. Laurence in our holiday production of Little Women, The Broadway Musical (December 10-12, 2015).

We’re also excited to announce TNB artistic director Thomas Morgan Jones will be directing a production as part of Theatre Passe Muraille’s upcoming season. Pyaasa by Anusree Roy tells the story of Chaya, an eleven-year-old untouchable who dreams of nothing more than learning her times tables. When Chaya’s mother begs a woman from a higher caste to give Chaya a job at a local tea stall, Chaya’s journey from childhood to adulthood begins and ends over ten days. A moving and heartfelt play, Pyaasa illustrates with subtlety and nuanced truth, the inequalities and injustices that persist through the Indian caste system.