Gascon-Thomas Award 2006
Herménégilde Chiasson and Gordon Pinsent:
Recipients of the 2006 Gascon-Thomas Award
Montreal, October 23, 2006 – The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS) is proud to announce that this year’s Gascon-Thomas Award will be distinguished upon two of Canada's most accomplished cultural icons: Gordon Pinsent and Herménégilde Chiasson. The two will receive the Award at a special ceremony on Friday, October 27th at 12:30 p.m. in the Monument-National’s Ludger-Duvernay Theatre.
The Gascon-Thomas Award recognizes exceptional achievement in theatre. Each year, two artists (one Anglophone and one Francophone) are singled out and honoured for their efforts to shape the world of theatre and for their status as role models to NTS students. Presided over by Tom Peacocke, the awarding jury is comprised of members of the School’s Board of Governors, artistic directors Sherry Bie and Denise Guilbault, Director General Simon Brault, and two student representatives.
Herménégilde Chiasson
Born in New Brunswick, Herménégilde Chiasson is an award-winning poet, playwright, artist, editor and art director. A key representative of modern life in Acadia, Chiasson is also the 29th Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick and a professor at the Université de Moncton. He has participated in over 100 exhibitions and is the author of many books and over twenty plays. In 1990 the French government named him Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1993 he was named to the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique. In 1999 he won the Governor-Generals Award in poetry for Conversations.
Gordon Pinsent
A true Canadian icon, Gordon Pinsent has participated in all aspects of the entertainment industry (stage, radio, television and film). Born in Newfoundland, Pinsent moved to Winnipeg in the 1940s and began his acting career at 17, performing at Theatre 77 before going on to perform in Toronto and at the Stratford Festival. He soon took on roles in radio dramas for the CBC, and later moved into television and film as well. For over 50 years, he's acted, written and directed in every medium there is. And when the part wasn't there, he wrote it himself. He has won two Actra Awards, three Genies, a Gemini, a Dora Mavor Moore Award and, in 1978, he was inducted into the Order of Canada (elevated in 1999 to the highest level, Companion of the Order). It's almost impossible for a Canadian not to know his face or voice. Some of the appearances that people remember him best for are roles in Quentin Durgens, MP, Anne of Green Gables, A Gift to Last (which he created), The Red Green Show, Due South, Wind at My Back and Power Play. He was most recently seen in the lead role of Grant, alongside Julie Christie’s Fiona, in Sarah Polley’s Away From Her, shown at TIFF and the 35th edition of the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal
