The 12th Annual METAs
Ceremony Programme
WELCOME! 28 productions were registered for the METAs during the 2023-2024 season. The METAs Jury has selected a robust 96 nominations, and will be awarding 18 trophies at the Ceremony. The METAs Committee is excited to be introducing The Innovation Award!
This year’s METAs Ceremony, presented in partnership with the Conseil des arts de Montréal, returns to the beautiful Gesù Theatre on Sunday, November 10th at 7:30 PM.
Support this year’s ceremony by checking out our Virtual Silent Auction, open until November. 10th, 2024 at 10 PM
Ceremony Creatives
Written and Hosted by: Murdoch Schon & Kenny Streule
Director: Keith Fernandez
Sound Design & Ceremony Assistant: HeatherEllen Strain
Lighting Design: Chris Wardell
Trophy Bestower: Dakota Jamal Wellman
Slideshow: Orlando López
Ceremony Liaisons: Brianna Bagshaw-Stocks & Cat Preston
Backstage Assistants: Maryam Nour & Brianna Bagshaw-Stocks
Production Assistant: Hailey Verbonac
METAs Committee Members:
Brianna Bagshaw-Stocks, Chelsea Dab Hilke, Karine Kerr-Gillespie,
Danielle Laurin, Orlando López, & Cat Preston
Evening Schedule
6:00 pm: Doors of Le Gesù open
7:30 pm: Ceremony - Act I
8:30 pm: Intermission
8:45 pm: Ceremony - Act II
9:45 pm: Post Ceremony Celebration!
11:30 pm: End of evening
Land Acknowledgment
The METAs operates on the unceded, traditional territory of Kanien’kehá: ka. The island called "Montreal" is known as Tiohtià:ke in the Kanien’kehá: ka language, and has been a meeting place for many Indigenous peoples; including but not limited to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Huron/Wendat, Abenaki, and Anishinaabeg (Algonquin). As artists living in a context of freedom of expression, we believe it is crucial to know the consequences of colonialism and acknowledge its ongoing legacy in our present day. We stand in solidarity with all Indigenous peoples for whom cultural expression continues to be prohibited and criminalized. We urge everyone to learn more about the history of these territories and to support Indigenous resistance and initiatives across Turtle Island and the globe.
RESOURCES
First Peoples Justice Center of Montreal
Montreal Indigenous Community Network
Nominees & Recipients / 2023-2024 Ceremony
RECIPIENTS IN BOLD
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE
The Flood - Jimmy Blais, Quinn Dooley, Krystle Pederson, Jennifer Roberts, Keren Roberts, Anana Rydvald
The Retreat - Warona Setshwaelo, Nicky Fournier, Espoir Segbeaya, Sophie-Thérèse Stone-Richards, Todd Houseman, Stephen Booth
Thy Woman's Weeds - Deena Aziz, Leni Parker, Joy Ross-Jones, Espoir Segbeaya, Warona Setshwaelo, Felicia Shulman, Julie Tamiko Manning
Mizushōbai (The Water Trade) - Hanako Brierley, Brenda Kamino, Katelyn Morishita, Dawn Obokata, Yoshie Bancroft
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE - Independent Production
Eman Bélanger - The Motherf*cker with the Hat
Caitlin Hawes - Spring Awakening
Santiago Montejo - Spring Awakening
Cat Preston - Be More Chill: The Musical
Theodore Vlachos - Be More Chill: The Musical
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE - PACT Production
Kayleigh Choiniere - POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Lucinda Davis - Fifteen Dogs
Davinder Malhi - Fifteen Dogs
Amy Rutherford - Fifteen Dogs
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE - Independent Production
Joshua Bilbao - The Motherf*cker with the Hat
Julie d’Entremont - Be More Chill: The Musical
Caitlin Hawes - Be More Chill: The Musical
Éloïse Lagacé - Spring Awakening
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE - PACT Production
Charles Bender - alterNatives
Tess Benger - Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Oliver Dennis - Fifteen Dogs
Jon Lachlan Stewart - Ricki
Jeremy Lewis - Dominoes at the Crossroads
Natalie Tannous - alterNatives
Nadia Verrucci - Where You Are
OUTSTANDING EMERGING ARTIST - PERFORMANCE
Julie d'Entremont - Be More Chill: The Musical
Jeremy Lewis - Dominoes at the Crossroads
Cat Preston - Be More Chill: The Musical
Espoir Segbeaya - The Retreat
Theodore Vlachos - Be More Chill: The Musical
OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN
Ana Cappelluto - Thy Woman's Weeds
Julie Fox, with Associate Bruno-Pierre Houle - Fifteen Dogs
Gillian Gallow - Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Jawon Kang - Mizushōbai (The Water Trade)
Eo Sharp - POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Louise Bourret - Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Marie-Eve Fortier, with Sophie El-Assaad - Ricki
Julie Fox, with Associate Louise Bourret - Fifteen Dogs
Mayumi Ide-Bergeron - Mizushōbai (The Water Trade)
Aura Carolina Rodriguez Vasquez - Infinite Variety
Diana Uribe - Thy Woman's Weeds
OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN
Paul Chambers - Ricki
Hugh Conacher - Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Tim Rodrigues - The Flood
Tim Rodrigues, with Associate Aurora Torok - Dominoes at the Crossroads
Christopher Wardell - Spring Awakening
OUTSTANDING SOUND DESIGN/COMPOSITION
Carmen Mancuso - Spring Awakening
Riel Reddick-Stevens - Dominoes at the Crossroads
Troy Slocum - Ricki
Troy Slocum - Thy Woman's Weeds
OUTSTANDING EMERGING ARTIST - Production
Anna Burkholder (Playwright) - Caravan
Gillian Clark (Playwright) - Perfect Storm
Georges Michael Fanfan (Costume Designer) - Every Day She Rose
Julian Smith (Sound Designer) - The Retreat
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO THEATRE
Daniel Barkley, Jawon Kang, and Wendy Kim Pires (Scenic Painting) - Mizushōbai (The Water Trade)
Floydd Ricketts (Musical Director/Band Leader) - Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Geordie Theatre (Accessibility and inclusion for the Neurodiverse Community) - Other Worlds
Tableau D'Hôte Theatre (Collective effort to re-make the costumes after they were stolen the day before dress rehearsal) - Mizushōbai (The Water Trade)
Melanie St-Jacques, Elyse Quesnel, Caroline Nowacki (Stage Management team) - Thy Woman's Weeds
Repercussion Theatre (Community Engagement & Community Building) - Infinite Variety
OUTSTANDING DIRECTION
Alison Darcy & Joseph Shragge - Ricki
Marie Farsi - Fifteen Dogs
Zach Fraser - Dominoes at the Crossroads
Debora Friedmann - Spring Awakening
Amanda Kellock - Thy Woman's Weeds
OUTSTANDING NEW TEXT
Gabrielle Chapdelaine (Translation by David Gagnon Walker) - The Retreat
Zach Fraser (in collaboration with the creative team) - Dominoes at the Crossroads
Julie Tamiko Manning - Mizushōbai (The Water Trade)
Erin Shields - Thy Woman's Weeds
Joseph Shragge - Ricki
OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION
Be More Chill: The Musical - Penumbra Theatre
The Motherf*cker with the Hat - House of Actors
Spring Awakening - Contact Theatre
Wine & Halva - Art Babayants, Toronto Laboratory Theatre and Postmarginal
OUTSTANDING PACT PRODUCTION
Dominoes at the Crossroads - Infinithéâtre
Fifteen Dogs - Segal Centre for Performing Arts
Thy Woman's Weeds - Centaur Theatre Company, Repercussion Theatre, & Tableau D'Hôte Theatre
Ricki - Scapegoat Carnivale
INNOVATION AWARD
The 2023 Shruti Readings - A Broke Theatre and Rahul Gandhi
UNSUNG HERO OF THE THEATRE
Tristynn Duheme
2023-2024 Season Jury Members
Stephen Patrick Booth, Nick Carpenter, Paul Chambers, Caite Clark, Lucinda Davis, Craig Francis,
Bruno-Pierre Houle, Mariah Inger, Darragh Mondoux, Simon Pelletier, Annalise Peterson-Perry,
Adjani Poirier, Anne-Marie Saheb, Gabriela Saltiel, Espoir Segbeaya
2023-2024 Innovation Award Jury
Lauren Katherine Clinton, Keith Fernandez, holly Greco, Devon HArdy, Danielle Skene
Thank you
The METAs Committee would like to thank the following for their help and contribution towards the ceremony:
Christian Larochelle, Véronique Pagnoux, Jonathan Poitras (Trophées Artistic Inc), Andrée Lanthier, Carol-Ann Hoyte, Marabooth, Chef Sean, Bob The Accountant, Segal Centre for Performing Arts, Imago Theatre, Infinithéâtre, Marabooth, MainLine Theatre, Le Gesù, Conseil des arts de Montréal, Festival Accès Asie & the Quebec Drama Federation.
