Valérie Tellos (Interprétation 4) delivering her introductory speech for Gilles Renaud, recipient of the Gascon-Thomas award for Lifetime Achievement
The Gascon-Thomas Awards
Created in 1990 by the NTS’s Board of Governors, the awards is named in honour of two of the School’s founders: Jean Gascon and Powys Thomas, who are equally among the School’s first great teachers to have made a lasting impression. In the spirit of the School’s co-lingual nature, the awards are bestowed each year to one Anglophone and one Francophone artist in two categories: Innovation and Lifetime Achievement. Those who receive this award have made their mark on today’s theatre or who have helped to change tomorrow’s theatre.
The two Gascon-Thomas Awards: Innovation and Lifetime Achievement
1. The Gascon-Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement
The Gascon-Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement is presented to a Canadian theatre artist who, throughout their career, has helped the theatre community evolve artistically. The selected nominee is an established artist who has earned national and international recognition and has contributed to Canadian theatre through their vast and important body of work.
2. The Gascon-Thomas Award for Innovation
The Gascon-Thomas Award for Innovation is presented to a Canadian theatre artist who has brought about a wave of change within their field. The nominee is selected for their ability to generate new ideas and for their efforts to improve upon current practices and/or approaches to making theatre. Innovation also refers to the attitude and social commitment underlying the artistic process. An artist who has had an impact on their social environment and makes theatre more accessible also demonstrates innovation by contributing to the growth and democratization of theatre.
Weyni Mengesha
Gilles Renaud
Recipients of the Gascon-Thomas Through the Years
2021
Yvette Nolan: Recipient of the 2021 Gascon-Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award
Mellissa Larivière: Recipient of the 2021 Gascon-Thomas Award for Innovation
2019
Weyni Mengesha – Innovation Award
Gilles Renaud (Interprétation, 1967) – Lifetime Achievement Award
2018
Martin Faucher and David Fox
2016
Djanet Sears and Monique Miller
2015
Hannah Moscovitch and Olivier Choinière
2014
David Latham and Michel Marc Bouchard
2013
Suzanne Lebeau and Colm Feore
2012
Dominic Champagne and Peter Hinton
2011
Allan Hawco and Claude Poissant
2010
Wajdi Mouawad and Judith Thompson
2009
Sandra Oh and Paul Buissonneau
2008
Sharon Pollock and Monique Mercure
2007
August Schellenberg and Brigitte Haentjens
2006
Herménégilde Chiasson and Gordon Pinsent
2005
Jackie Maxwell and Janine Sutto
2004
Jean-Louis Roux and Christopher Plummer
2003
Tomson Highway and Robert Lepage
2002
George F. Walker and André Brassard
2001
Lorraine Pintal and Ann-Marie Macdonald
2000
Kenneth Welsh and Jean-Pierre Ronfard
1999
Christopher Newton and Michel Tremblay
1998
John Murrell and Hélène Falcon
1997
Paul Hébert and R.H Thomson
1996
Diana Leblanc and Jean-Louis Millette
1995
Mavor Moore and Louisette Dussault
1994
Mallory Gilbert and Jean-Claude Germain
1993
Neil Munro and Marcel Sabourin
1992
Martha Henry and Michelle Rossignol
1991
Herbert Whittaker and Mercedes Palomino
1990
Joy Coghill and Gratien Gélinas
Gascon-Thomas 2019
Current and past instructors at NTS reunited at the Gascon-Thomas awards ceremony
Students from the Acting program at the Gascon-Thomas awards ceremony
Gideon Arthurs, Valérie Tellos (Interprétation 4), Gilles Renaud, Sadie-Laflamme Snow (Acting 4) and Gil Desautels (Governor)
Gilles Renaud receiving his Gascon-Thomas award for Lifetime Achievement
Weyni Mengesha, Artistic Director of the Soulpepper Theatre Company, receiving her Gascon-Thomas award for Innovation, and Yousef Kadoura (Acting 2017) who presented her the award.
Yousef Kadoura (Acting 2017) in conversation with Weyni Mengesha, recipient of the Gascon-Thomas award for Innovation
Dean Fleming and Catherine Bourgeois receiving the Bernard Amyot prize – handed by Bernard Amyot himself! – for their excellence in teaching
Dean Fleming, Catherine Bourgeois, and Bernard Amyot at the Gascon-Thomas awards ceremony
Catherine Gadouas, recipient of the Sims Family award for her excellence in teaching
Actresses Véronique Leflaguais (Interprétation 1968) and Catherine Sénart (Interprétation 1991) the evening of the Gascon-Thomas
Frédéric Dubois, artistic director of the French section at NTS, with Caroline Marcadé and Louise Turcot
Alisa Palmer, Artistic Director of the English section at NTS and the School’s CEO Gideon Arthurs
Alisa Palmer, Artistic Director of the English section at NTS, with Carol Serge Robichaud (Interprétation 1973)
Playwright John Lazarus and current NTS students at the Gascon-Thomas
Sadie Laflamme-Snow (Acting 4) introducing Weyni Mengesha, recipient of the Gascon-Thomas award for Innovation
Gilles Renaud, actor and recipient of the Gascon-Thomas award for his Lifetime Achievement, during the award ceremony
