ABOUT THE AWARD
The Chris Brookes Memorial Award (CBMA) is a $2000 award presented annually by RCA Theatre Company, for a project in development or production in the following calendar year.
Seed funding for the Chris Brookes Memorial Award was provided by Henry and Helen Peters to establish a living legacy to honour the value and importance of Chris Brookes’ pioneering contributions to the performing arts in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Chris understood the power of theatre to engage, unify, and empower people and communities. The driving purpose behind his theatre work was to effect positive change in the world. The works he created and helped to create were for, about, and supportive of the communities they reflected. This award aims to support these values and encourage artists who wish to grow their theatre practice and leadership talents.
CRITERIA
The Award is open to artists with 10 years or less of professional practice in theatre in NL and/or artists who are exploring a new theatrical approach (playwriting, direction, design, etc.) within an established practice, of all levels and abilities, and from all backgrounds and cultures to engage and participate in the arts.
No proxy or nominating applications will be accepted for this award as it is intended to be a catalyst for the imminent creation by or development of an individual artist within 12 months following the award announcement.
Interested individuals should submit 1) a professional CV (maximum 3 pages, listing formal and informal arts education, any/all theatre and live arts experience, or any knowledge/lived experience relevant to the submission) 2) a one page description of the artistic merit and feasibility of the work (maximum) that will be supported with this award and 3) up to three pages of support material (maximum) OR up to three pages of a sample script or writing (maximum). Up to three minutes of audio or video (maximum) is also recommended, but not required, to illustrate or illuminate for the jury, the type of work to be undertaken with the award funds.
The support material must be directly related to the work for which the individual is seeking the award (not past accomplishments) and should be commensurate with the artist’s level of theatre experience, ie. new, emerging, established, or senior theatre artist.
This award aims to support theatre creation in all its forms- writing, performance, design & construction, direction, projection, and other areas not described therein but deemed eligible by the CBMA jury. Its intention is to support work that expands the personal creative journey of the candidate. This award is open to all theatre artists living and working in Newfoundland and Labrador at the time of submission, regardless of citizenship, with a project intended for public presentation in NL. The monetary award will be issued to the successful candidate at the time of the announcement.
The CBMA may be used to carry out professional development (for which candidates show proof of registration at the time of application), to conduct a workshop, residency, or exploration of a new or current work, crucial support towards the presentation of a new theatre creation that may or may not exist at the time of the award’s founding. While no final report will be required, the successful candidate should publicly acknowledge the award at the time the work is publicly presented/completed. At that time, candidates are asked to provide or make available a visual or audio excerpt, photos, or recording for promotion of its activities.
PROCESS
The Board of Directors for Resource Centre for the Arts will nominate and appoint a jury (comprised of three theatre artists) at the beginning of the Season and accept submissions from theatre artists who are seeking to expand their arts practice in an innovative way. The jury shall meet within 2 weeks of the deadline to determine a sole winner of the award for the following calendar year.
The inaugural 2024 Chris Brookes Memorial Award was announced in October 2023 and will be awarded in January 2024. This schedule will remain in place for all subsequent awards unless an alternate schedule to award the prize annually is agreed upon by the RCA Board of Directors.
The deadline for submissions is December 15th, 2023 at 5pm.
TO SUMBIT YOUR APPLICATION FOR THE CBMA
Electronic Submissions are Preferred.
Please Email to Laura Williams, RCAT Artistic Associate (put CBMA in the subject line)
To submit by mail (or deliver by hand between 9 am-5 pm, Monday-Friday):
c/o RCA Theatre Company
LSPU Hall
3 Victoria Street
St. John’s NL A1C 3V2
To donate to the award go here.
Check out past winners HERE!
