2026

Azal Dosanjh

Azal Dosanjh is an artist primarily engaged in live performance work. They grew up in Panjab, India, and are now based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. They direct, write, and produce – centering their practice around community building and engagement.
 
Azal holds a BA in English and Communication Studies, as well as a Diploma in Stage and Screen Technique from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. They will be finishing their Directing Program at National Theatre School come May 2026.
 
In Panjab, India, Azal led several youth-centered arts organizations, particularly working to connect aspiring high school artists with emerging university artists. This aspiration led them to organize and direct three youth cultural and arts festivals, multiple art competitions, and several arts-led charity events. They have interned at some cool places, like the biggest English newspaper in India, their high school, and their university. They wrote (and published) their first play, Dreaming Kids, at the age of 11 after being grounded for lying about diarrhea to skip school (I wasn’t lying).
 
In Newfoundland – particularly in St. John’s – Azal has worked and learned in multiple capacities with the Resource Centre for the Arts, Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, Perchance Theatre, White Rooster, TODOS Productions, St. John’s Shorts, Shakespeare by the Sea, and several other companies, collectives, and organizations. They are also part of the sketch comedy, slam poetry, and stand-up comedy communities in St. John’s. For 2023-2024, they (somehow) became an artist-in-residence at the Arts and Culture Centre, St. John’s.
 
Their current project in-development What is in a Flame? explores humanity’s yearn for freedom through the life and death of theatre maker and activist – Safdar Hashmi.
 
Azal likes jokes and ice cream. They have a complicated relationship with bios.

2025

Nabila Qureshi and Jeremy Nolan

Nabila Qureshi is a social sciences enthusiast who greatly enjoys creative mediums that foster critical exploration & earnest expression. Her most recent artistic project was with TODOS Productions’ & White Rooster Theatre’s play ‘NewfoundLanded’. She essayed the roles of Co-playwright, Assistant Director, and Actor under the artistic mentorship of Santiago Guzmán. Since 2016, she has engaged in several staged readings of plays in workshop and development, and acted in White Rooster Theatre’s 2019 play ‘Remnants’, directed by Ruth Lawrence and written by Jenna Turk.

She is the recipient of the 2019 YWCA St. John’s Women of Distinction award in Community & Social Development, and a co-recipient of the 2018 Atlantic Journalism Award (Silver) for best arts and entertainment reporting of any medium for Radio RIAC—a refugee and immigrant radio show. 

Nabila & her husband, Abdullah Omar Saif, will co-write a children’s play for Shakespeare by the Sea Festival’s 2026 season. 

Jeremy Nolan (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist from St. John’s/Placentia, NL. Over the years, he has worked with Artistic Fraud and Rising Tide as an actor, as well as Perchance Theatre in various roles. You can also catch him in the new CBC show “Saint-Pierre.” His personal work dives into his experiences with chronic illnesses, mainly Cystic Fibrosis and his double lung transplant in 2014, and all the “fun” that comes with that. His newest project “Shit, Piss, and Cystic Fibrosis” unravels his struggles with growing up in the medical industrial complex and the addictions that arise from receiving intense medications at an early age.

Jeremy is deeply honoured to receive the award in honour of the artist and legend Chris Brookes. Chris’s contribution to the local arts scene has paved the way for many beautiful pieces and artists over the decades. Jeremy is touched to follow Chris’s path, he would like to thank RCAT and the jury for their faith in him and his project.

2024

Sophie Angnatok

Sophie Angnatok (Anna-tok: Meeting of Women) Sophie Angnatok is an Inuk throat singer and drum dancer from Nain, Nunatsiavut. Inspired by a newspaper clip of her Anasiak Elizabeth Andersen (grandmother), Sophie has been practicing the art of throat-singing and traditional Inuit drumming for two decades. She is currently part of the Inuit drum dance group Kilautiup Songuninga (Strength of the Drum) and has been since 2010. In 2023 they were featured on the Mainstage of the St. John’s Folk Festival, as Sophie’s Grandmother Elizabeth and Aunt Susie Onalik were in 1984.

Sophie has performed for diverse audiences locally and across the country in many festivals, community functions, and arts-based events. Sophie has performed for the Canadian Prime Minister during The Truth and Reconciliation apology for Labradorimut and for the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon.

Sophie currently lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland where she plays an active role with her local urban Inuit community. She is currently working with the Kim White and Louise Moyes Docudance inclusive project Let’s See (Digital Now, Canada Council) to develop her own solo show, Coming Full Circle. Sophie often shares her love and knowledge of Inuit culture, teaches workshops and is a leader in her practice.