Boca del Lupo artistic director Sherry J. Yoon nominated for Siminovitch Prize
Described as a “trailblazer”, theatre artist praised for “creating truly site-specific work”
Sherry J. Yoon
BOCA DEL LUPO’S Sherry J. Yoon has been shortlisted for the Siminovitch Prize. The country’s most significant theatre award celebrates professional mid-career theatre creators whose work is transformative and influential. This year, the spotlight is on directors from across Canada who have strengthened the nation’s theatre landscape.
“Sherry J. Yoon is a trailblazer, having for over twenty years created and staged thrilling, technically audacious, exuberant work outdoors, in trees, in shipping containers, online, in historic buildings, and in private homes for adult and young audiences,” the Siminovitch Prize announcement says. “Her work has upended some of the fundamental assumptions of theatre practice: What is an audience? A stage? Exploring these questions she has created new relationships between audiences and spaces, between people and places. She has pushed the boundaries of theatrical performance, creating truly site-specific work that probes our connections to the land and the spaces that sustain and welcome us, work that connects the past to the present. As one of her colleagues said, her work has not only moved us forward but has also prepared us for where we are going.”
Yoon—a director, curator, creator, producer, artistic director, and artist—was especially influential and active within the Canadian theatre industry throughout the course of the pandemic.
Boca del Lupo was the first organization in Canada to offer live performances following the shutdown in March 2020. The company’s production of Red Phone was the centrepiece of an eight-week installation on Granville Island that summer. This COVID-resilient production went on a three city tour in that fall, being the first production to tour post-lockdown. (Red Phone is currently playing at the Prismatic Arts Festival in Halifax and will be presented at PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in January before heading on tour to South America.)
Yoon also launched Plays2Perform@Home in July 2020. Boca del Lupo worked with Governor General- and Simonovitch Award-winning playwrights to create “home delivery theatre”. The project went on to be presented across the country with six partner companies and 20 commissions of new short plays. The Western Box Set won the Patrick O'Neill Award for best anthology in 2021.
In 2021, Yoon was co-curator of the National Arts Centre’s Grand Acts of Theatre. The project commissioned 10 large-scale works across Canada that were recorded and have since been viewed millions of times on social media.
Last year Yoon also worked on a ground-breaking project with the Dr Peter Centre called Dialogues for the Vaccine Hesitant and Those Who Love Them. The theatre-public-health collaboration led to a series of e-books and podcasts featuring playwrights and actors from across Canada with a goal to promote understanding amid the pandemic response.
Yoon also organized Stop Asian Hate, working with Asian-Canadian theatre leaders from across Canada on a collective action condemning the rise in anti-Asian sentiment and related violence. The nationwide movement evolved into the Celebrating Asian Excellence campaign in 2022.
Earlier this year, Yoon launched LivePerformance360, Boca del Lupo’s new presentation series featuring Canadian and international creators investigating the intersections of live performance and immersive technology. It explored the possibilities for VR as an avenue for access to live performing arts for individuals in remote communities or wouldn’t be able to attend a live event.
“My world view and life experience as a woman of colour, an immigrant, and outsider has impacted my work and has contributed to my passion as a creator,” Yoon says in a statement. “Focused only on the barriers, I would not be working as a director. It is the thrill of being in a creative space, literally and figuratively, that fuels me with endless energy and courage.”
The other 2022 Siminovitch Prize finalists are Marie Brassard (Montreal), Ravi Jain (Toronto), and Ann-Marie Kerr (Halifax).
The Prize recognizes the importance of mentorship to support emerging talent: the Laureate receives $75,000 and selects a Protégé who receives $25,000.
The award winner will be announced on December 1 at 5 pm Pacific time.
Sherry J Yoon
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