Vancouver theatre company Boca del Lupo's artistic director shortlisted for top award

Multi-disciplinary Vancouver theatre company Boca del Lupo’s artistic director Sherry J Yoon has been nominated for Siminovitch Prize.

Arguably the top theatre award in Canada, the Siminovitch Prize’s mandate is to celebrate a professional mid-career director, playwright, or designer.

“It’s truly an honour to be shortlisted for this award. I’m humbled by the kind words of my peers and colleagues who nominated me as well as the incredible committee who adjudicated the prize. I’d also like to offer congratulations to my fellow nominees, what an inspirational group to be a part of,” said Yoon, a 25-year veteran of Boca del Lupo, in a statement.

The Laureate receives $75,000 and selects a Protégé who receives $25,000. The award recipient will be announced December 1. Joining Yoon on the shortlist are Marie Brassard from Montreal, Toronto’s Ravi Jain and Ann-Marie Kerr of Halifax.

Yoon has worked as a director, curator, creator, producer, artistic director and artist. According to a statement, Yoon “was instrumental in ensuring that arts and culture were not only present but also ground-breaking over the last few years during the pandemic,” helping the company to mount Red Phone in July 2020 making Boca del Lupo the first organization in Canada to open live performances following the shut down in March 2020.

In 2021, Yoon was the co-curator of the National Arts Centre’s Grand Acts of Theatre, a project that commissioned 10 large scale works across Canada last summer. Those works were recorded and have since been viewed millions of times on social media.

Yoon was also behind Stop Asian Hate a movement working with Asian Canadian theatre leaders from across Canada. The movement evolved into the Celebrating Asian Excellence campaign in 2022.

Yoon also launched the project Plays2Perform@Home in July 2020. Boca del Lupo worked with Governor General and Simonovitch award winning playwrights to create “home delivery theatre”.  This project helped keep live performance alive.

In 2021, Sherry worked on a project with the Dr Peter Centre called Dialogues for the Vaccine Hesitant and Those Who Love Them. This collaboration between theatre and public health resulted in a series of eBooks and Podcasts featuring playwrights and actors from across Canada with “a goal to promote understanding and heal divides arising from the pandemic response.”

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.”

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