2025 Drama Award Recipient
Supported by the National Arts Centre, English Theatre
21 translated by Katherine Turnbull
Translation of the original play by Rachel Graton
Sara’s job is to help troubled teens with a host of issues. Like Zoe, an angry fifteen-year-old with a tendency to run away. Now, how to get her to open up and begin the journey of personal growth and healing when she doesn’t trust adults? “I hear you like basketball. Sara’s job is to help troubled teens with a host of issues. Like Zoe, an angry fifteen-year-old with a tendency to run away. Now, how to get her to open up and begin the journey of personal growth and healing when she doesn’t trust adults? “I hear you like basketball.”
The peer assessment panel said: “21 uses powerful language and an intriguing structure to address a pressing yet seldom discussed topic on stage.”
Katherine Turnbull has a Bachelor of Fine Arts [Honours] in Acting with a minor in French Studies from the University of Windsor. Based in Montreal, she works in French and English in theatre and film. Katherine is fascinated by the messy and complex aspects of life, and so she explores the nitty-gritty of humanity in her projects. In 2021, Katherine translated La nuit du 4 au 5 by Rachel Graton, commissioned by Talisman Theatre. The resulting translation, The Night From the 4th to the 5th, was shortlisted for the 2023 Tom Hendry Drama Award. In May 2022, Talisman Theatre presented it as a digital reading, which has since won awards at the 2023 Snow Leopard International Film Festival (Madrid, Spain) & Sweden International Film Festival for Best Drama, Best Black and White Film, and Best Stage Play. It also received four (4) nominations at the 2023 MAGMA Film Festival (Best Feature & Experimental Film, Best Directing, Best Original Concept, and Best Ensemble).
Rachel Graton is a Quebecoise playwright and actress. She is most noted for her play La nuit du 4 au 5, which won the Prix Gratien-Gélinas in 2017 and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for French-language drama at the 2019 Governor General’s Awards. As an actress, she has appeared in the films Miraculum, C’est le cœur qui meurt en dernier, Répertoire des villes disparues, and Dis-moi pourquoi ces choses sont si belles, and the television series Trauma, Karl & Max, Boomerang, Au secours de Béatrice, Les Simone, and Portrait-Robot.
“Canadian creators are the engine of our art form—the spark that becomes a shared imagination. This gift is a joyful act of faith in the artist, the work, and the future stages where these stories will live. We’re proud to be a generous partner in that journey.” Nina Lee Aquino, Artistic Director, NAC English Theatre
Special thanks to Drama Award Peer Assessment Panelists: Tetsuro Shigematsu (Chair), Pamela Halstead and Jamie Robinson.