Vancouver lighting designer Itai Erdal named a finalist for the 2024 Siminovitch Prize
The Elbow Theatre founder, also a writer and performer, is in the running to take home the prestigious $100,000 award
VANCOUVER LIGHTING DESIGNER Itai Erdal—who’s also a writer, performer and founder of The Elbow Theatre—has been named one of four finalists for the 2024 Siminovitch Prize.
An initiative of the Siminovitch Theatre Foundation to recognize theatre artists across Canada who are redefining the stage, the prize is the country’s highest valued theatre award, at $100,000.
Erdal is vying for the honour alongside lighting designer Sonoyo Nishikawa; composer and sound designer Debashis Sinha; and The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, which also produces sculptures, films, and design work.
Having worked with choreographers such as Crystal Pite, Noam Gagnon, Serge Bennathan, Chick Snipper, Susan Elliot, and Idan Cohen, Erdal has designed more than 300 shows for theatre, dance and opera companies in over 50 cities around the world. Among the companies he has worked with are the Arts Club Theatre Company (16 productions), The Stratford Festival (11 shows), New Victory Theater (Off Broadway), Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Playhouse, Bard on the Beach, Electric Company Theatre, National Arts Centre, and more.
Shortlisted for the Siminovitch Prize in 2018, Erdal is the recipient of six Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards, a Dora Mavor Moore Award, a Winnipeg Theatre Award, the Jack King Award, a Tyrone Guthrie Award, Victoria’s Spotlight Choice Award, and the Design Award at the 2008 Dublin Fringe Festival.
Erdal’s first one-man show, How to Disappear Completely (directed by James Long), premiered in 2011 and had 25 remounts in 21 cities. It won the best director award at the Summerworks Festival in Toronto, and was shortlisted to the Dublin Fringe Award, the Brighton Fringe Award, and the Total Theatre Award at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Soldiers of Tomorrow, which is about his service in the Israeli army and played at the 2023 PuSh Festival, received Summerhall’s Lustrum Award and was nominated to an OffFest Award at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Each year, the winner of the Siminovitch Prize selects a protégé to receive $25,000 and a year of ongoing coaching and counsel. Aside from the grand prize winner, the three other finalists are recognized with $5,000; a documentary about their work; an opportunity to provide $5,000 to an emerging artist of their choosing; and access to the Siminovitch Network, which connects them with fellow artists.
A national jury of distinguished members of the theatre community is chosen annually to select the finalists and winner. Jurors consider nominees’ originality; sense of evolution; growing maturity; continuing experimentation; and impact upon audiences, their community, emerging artists, colleagues, and the art form.
The winner will be announced in December.
Gail Johnson is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.
Related Articles
Powerful performance features iconic songs by notable Black Canadian women in music, along with important stories from Black history
Appearing here with Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre, the Miss Colombia artist asserts the freedom to blend art pop with cumbia, electronica, and other forms
Program of works by Ramona Luengen, J.S. Bach, Tamsin Jones, and more emphasizes the need for momentary breaks amid the busyness of life
Program includes works by Ravel, Beethoven, and Berlin-based Israeli contemporary composer Matan Porat
The Fugitives provide an intimate exploration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge through live music, verbatim theatre, and direct storytelling
Audiences can expect to hear tracks off the group’s new album Gravity, which draws from high-intensity jazz, rock, funk, and Latin influences
F.W. Murnau’s 1926 classic follows the demon Mephisto, who makes a bet with an archangel that a good man’s soul can be corrupted
UBC Opera and Opera West Society copresent the celebrated “king of the high Cs”
Acclaimed Maryland-based artist leads a masterclass for Capilano University jazz students before joining them onstage in an eclectic repertoire
Cutting-edge string musicians have recorded over 70 albums, won more than 40 awards, and collaborated with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie
Marginalized youth are invited to learn from panelists Chin Injeti, Renae Morriseau, Dawn Pemberton, and Jaya Story at the Sarah McLachlan School of Music
The New York City–based artist takes an unflinching look at grief, loss, and ecological collapse
Concert features UBC University Singers, Vancouver Bach Choir, Nabi Vocal Ensemble, and Intertidal Choral Ensemble, with beloved conductor emeritus Jon Washburn
Recording her new album of cover songs was intensely heart-breaking
Slumdog Millionaire composer joins the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at Vancouver International Film Festival keynote event
Performing on instruments he built himself using salvaged chips and capacitors, the experimental Kampala-based artist debuts in North America
Fauré’s hauntingly beautiful Requiem and Bernstein’s enchanting Chichester Psalms are on the intimate program conducted by Leslie Dala
The artist felt at home the first time he played the viola at age 16
Award-winning local singer-songwriter to host several free programs and workshops at the library’s state-of-the-art Recording Studio during her term
Chopin and Liszt are on the program at the Kay Meek Arts Centre, as the internationally acclaimed musician makes his Vancouver debut
Curators Kendra Place, Anju Singh, and Reylinn present a futuristic lineup of sonic performers in copresentation with VIVO Media Arts Centre
Detroit-born, Vancouver-based artist integrates early African American rhythms and folklore with contemporary sounds and stories
California-based violinist and composer performs her new double album which evokes “a charged relationship to the natural world”
The ensemble will perform Hawley’s The Arrow and the Song at its epic season-opening concert
Singer-songwriter’s first Vancouver concert in 15 years features tracks off her latest studio album, My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross
Director Ashlie Corcoran and conductor Jacques Lacombe helm spectacular production of Johann Strauss II’s 1960s-set comic operetta
Program for the evening at the Vancouver Playhouse spans Haydn, Shostakovich, and Mendelssohn
Debut concert by the powerful new ensemble features world premieres and melodious classics
Wolastoqiyik tenor-composer and Abenaki filmmaker-musician deliver an intimate two-part concert presented in partnership with VIFF and the Vancouver Art Gallery
The new name reflects the ensemble’s commitment to inclusion and embraces gender neutrality