Nomination Merritt Awards & Scholarship Prizes

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Deadline for submissions and applications to all awards is 11:59pm on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

Submissions can be sent by email to theatrens@theatrens.ca

If any of the following Forms or Guidelines are inaccessible to you and you would like to nominate someone using a different format,
or if you need help completing the form, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at theatrens@theatrens.ca


All Nomination Awards & Scholarship Prize submissions are reviewed and winners chosen by a selection panel made up of Theatre Nova Scotia board members. Except for the April Hubbard Creative Access award, which is chosen by a panel of members of the Disabled and Mad community. 

 

Outstanding Stage Manager / Outstanding Technician Awards

Theatre Nova Scotia Stage Manager and Technician Merritt Awards recognize outstanding work on professional productions in Nova Scotia in the areas of stage management and technical production. The winner(s) will be announced at the annual Robert Merritt Awards. Nominations are accepted from individual members and Professional Theatre organizations. Nominators should address how a nominee contributed to the success of a production.

Contrary to popular belief, these awards are NOT a one-time honour! Actors, Directors, and everyone else is eligible to win a Merritt for every show they work on, and SM and techs are no exception.

Anyone who worked on a professional TNS member production is eligible to submit a nomination. It does not need to come from the Producer/Producing Company. Directors, ASMs, fellow technicians, crew members, cast members, and even administrators can write and submit nominations.

The production for which the SM/Tech is being recognized needs to have been produced by a professional TNS member company in good standing during the previous calendar year. Not sure if the show is eligible? Email TNS and ask!

Outstanding Volunteer Award

Theatre Nova Scotia created the TNS Volunteer Award for outstanding contributions to professional or community theatre in Nova Scotia. The winner is announced at the annual Robert Merritt Awards. Nominations are accepted by individual members, Professional or Community Theatre organizations, and the general public. Nominators should address how a nominee made a significant contribution to the community or professional theatre in Nova Scotia. The nominee will have shown an exceptional commitment to theatre in any area, including, but not limited to, production, backstage, administrative work, fundraising, and board or committee work. Nominees must have been a member of an organization for at least one year.

Outstanding Emerging Artist Award

The Outstanding Emerging Artist award is presented to an early-career artist who demonstrates distinction and passion in their field, and is already making contributions to affect our theatre community.

This award has had many iterations throughout the years, once presented by the Mayor’s office, then through Neptune Theatre as part of their Chrysalis program, and it is now administered by Theatre Nova Scotia directly. 

This peer-nominated award is intended for artists who have been present in theatre in Nova Scotia between two (2) to ten (10) years, and have demonstrated a strong interest in pursuing/advancing their career in theatre.

Theatre Nova Scotia Legacy Award

Theatre Nova Scotia created the TNS Legacy Award for outstanding contribution to professional theatre in Nova Scotia. The winner is announced at the annual Robert Merritt Awards. Nominations are accepted from individual members, Professional Theatre organizations, and the general public. Nominators should address how a nominee has contributed to Nova Scotian theatre in the areas of organizational development, community building, mentorship and education. Please list any volunteer or board positions held by the nominee, as well any artistic contributions made to the Nova Scotian theatre community or any other relevant information. Nominees may include but are not limited to: actors, directors, producers, playwrights, designers, scenic artists, carpenters, sound and lighting technicians, stage managers, administrators and theatre educators. Recipients are eligible to receive the award one time only.  The award is open to all Nova Scotians.

April Hubbard Creative Access Award

The April Hubbard Creative Access award was created to celebrate the passion and work of April Hubbard, a champion of disability justice in Mi’kma’ki. April’s experience as a Mad, Disabled woman allows her to guide those working to create inclusive performances and spaces. She is an outspoken advocate whose focus is to empower people with disabilities to discover their voice and to be leaders in designing the society in which they wish to live. 

The award is designed to highlight individuals making brave art. It is awarded to a Disabled, Deaf, Mad, or Neurodivergent artist who has found their way through the chaos to create art despite the roadblocks that were put in their way. As a result, the Creative Access Award is open to all forms of public performance art (not just traditional theatre) and to performances outside of the standard Merritt Award nomination process. 

The April Hubbard Creative Access prize will be awarded to a Disabled artist making work in public spaces, and the successful applicant will be chosen by a panel of members of the Disabled and Mad community.

[Image Description: A photo of April Hubbard, a white, Mi'kmaw woman with short brown hair in her 30's. She sits backward in her wheelchair with one leg curled over her wheel, and the other outstretched playfully. April wears glasses, a sparkly red romper, and patterned stockings. 
Behind her hangs a textured fringe curtain and a joyful carpet of multicolored twinkly lights covers the floor under her wheels. The dark room is bathed in mysterious red and purple lighting.]

 

*April Hubbard Creative Access Award Nomination Form*

If this form is inaccessible to you and you would like to nominate using a different format, or need help completing the form, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at theatrens@theatrens.ca

The 2025 deadline for the April Hubbard Creative Access Award is on Wednesday March 12th

 

The Wes Daniels Design Scholarship

The Wes Daniels Design Scholarship is a monetary prize originally created by Neptune Theatre, to honour the artistic spirit of the late props builder and set designer Wes Daniels - a long-time employee of Neptune Theatre and a gifted artist. The annual award will provide a matching financial gift of up to $1,000 annually to a theatre company to subsidize, for a given production, the hiring of an emerging theatre professional who has demonstrated a strong artistic sensibility in the field of theatre design.

By providing this unique, hands-on professional development opportunity, Neptune Theatre and Theatre Nova Scotia hope to honour Wes, his work and his commitment to mentorship. The scholarship is open to TNS Professional Theatre company members, and the prize recipient is announced at Theatre Nova Scotia’s annual Merritt Awards ceremony. 

 

TNS Professional Development Scholarship

Theatre Nova Scotia offers a scholarship of $1,000 to support professional development for theatre artists working in any form of theatre and at any stage of their careers. The purpose of this scholarship is to support theatre artists in their pursuit of professional development in specialized training programs outside of university bachelor’s or master’s degree programs or conservatory training.
Programs of study can include workshops, intensives or mentorships with an established artist. The Professional Development Scholarship is presented each year during the Robert Merritt Awards.

The prize is open to TNS Individual members. Applications are assessed by a jury arranged by Theatre Nova Scotia and the decision will be announced at the Merritt Awards ceremony that year.

 

    The Nova Scotia Talent Trust, Theatre Nova Scotia Award

    The Nova Scotia Talent Trust provides financial assistance to Nova Scotians who demonstrate exceptional potential and commitment to establish themselves as artists in their chosen fields but have not yet done so. Assistance is provided to those who are undertaking programs of study to advance their artistic development and who are pursuing career paths that can lead them to become established artists. Each year’s NSTT successful scholarship recipients will be considered for fifteen Special Awards. Special Awards are issued at the discretion of the Scholarship Selection Committee and are provided in addition to scholarship amounts. No other application requirements are necessary. The Theatre Nova Scotia Award, named for the award’s sponsor, will be awarded, if merited, to a recipient who shows exceptional commitment and potential in theatre. The award value is $1000.

    Application Deadlines:  March 1st and May 1st every year

    Details through the Nova Scotia Talent Trust

     

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    TNS acknowledges that we are in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. We recognize the heritage of this land and its people to express gratitude to those who reside here, and to honour the Indigenous people who have lived and worked on this land historically and presently.

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