News Releases - 2002
Christopher Newton, Margaret Lock win Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes
Ottawa, 5 June 2002 -- Christopher Newton, an actor, director and artistic director of the Shaw Festival for more than two decades, and Margaret Lock, a professor at McGill University and a pioneer in the field of medical anthropology, have been awarded this year's Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes.
Two Molson Prizes worth $50,000 each are awarded each year to distinguished Canadians, one in the arts and the other in the social sciences or humanities. The prizes recognize the recipients' outstanding lifetime contribution to the cultural and intellectual life of Canada.
In awarding the Molson Prize in the Arts to Christopher Newton, the jury wrote "Christopher Newton has made substantial and distinguished contributions to Canadian theatre for over 30 years as an actor, a playwright and an artistic director. The pinnacle of his success has been the Shaw Festival, which came to international renown under his leadership, and he has been instrumental in creating a Canadian phenomenon whose artistic and economic impact has been astounding and far-reaching.
Mr. Newton continues to redefine the way theatre is created and performed in Canada. Throughout his career he has been relentlessly dedicated to raising the quality of theatre across the country. Through the innovative Bell Canada/CBC Reading Series and the production of Canadian plays, he opened the mandate of the Shaw Festival. He has shown an exceptional ability to match high artistic standards and a considerable amount of risk-taking with commercially viable productions. His legacy at the Shaw Festival lies both in its current success and in the important initiatives he created to attract, nurture and inspire young artists, actors and directors from across Canada.
Mr. Newton's ‘retirement' from the Shaw Festival will no doubt be a catalyst for further innovation, mentoring and artistic accomplishments."
In awarding the Molson Prize in the Social Sciences and Humanities to Margaret Lock, the jury wrote: "Dr. Margaret Lock is a pioneer in the field of medical anthropology. Her remarkable work is at the heart of our understanding of current issues and preoccupations of the highest importance to society. She has applied her immense intellectual resources to the study of the human body, to life and death and to their relationship to technology and biotechnology.
Dr. Lock's research has gone beyond anthropology to the study of the impact of medicine on human society and culture. Her work touches questions of high theoretical, epistemological and ethical importance and includes the study of how complex cultural factors affect perceptions of health and illness as well as of the critical relationship between brain death and organ donation, life and death.
Her groundbreaking research on the cultural factors that affect how menopause is perceived and experienced has created new understanding of such conditions. She is at the leading edge in all the areas she studies, and she continues to push the boundaries of how scholars and lay people around the world approach major medical and ethical issues. Dr. Lock's energy, enthusiasm, skill and dedication raise her to the highest level of her profession."
Established in 1964, the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes are funded from the income of an endowment given to the Council by the Molson Foundation and now valued at $2.9 million. The Council administers these awards in cooperation with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and, following a nomination process, both laureates are selected by a joint peer jury. The winner of last year's Molson Prize in the Arts was writer Jacques Poulin, while the Molson Prize in the Humanities went to University of Toronto philosopher Ian Hacking.
The jury for this year's Molson Prizes, co-chaired by Canada Council Chairman Jean-Louis Roux and SSHRC President Marc Renaud, consisted of artist, curator and historian Doreen Jensen (Surrey, BC); jazz pianist Oliver Jones (Montreal, QC); actor and director Albert Millaire (Montreal, QC); dance photographer Cylla von Tiedemann (Toronto, ON); University of Alberta English professor Patricia Clements (Edmonton, AB); Acadia University history professor Margaret R. Conrad (Wolfville, NS); Laval University anthropology professor Huguette Dagenais (Quebec City, QC); and Leslie Pal, professor and director at the School for Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University (Ottawa, ON).
The Molson Prize in the Arts will be awarded to Christopher Newton at a presentation ceremony at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario on Friday, July 5. The Molson Prize in the Humanities and Social Sciences will be presented to Margaret Lock at McGill University this fall.
Christopher Newton
Christopher Newton has been a major contributor to Canadian theatre for over 30 years. He was born in England and educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School in Kent, the University of Leeds, Purdue University and the University of Illinois. He was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal and holds honorary degrees from Brock University in St. Catharines, the University of Guelph, Wilfrid Laurier University and the State University of New York in Buffalo and an honorary Fellowship from the Royal Conservatory of Music. He is a Fellow of Ryerson University. In 1996, Christopher Newton was made a member of the Order of Canada and in 2000 was a recipient of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.
In 1961 Christopher Newton moved to North America and established his acting career with the Canadian Players, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Vancouver Playhouse, Shaw and Stratford Festivals, and on Broadway. In 1968 he founded Theatre Calgary and served as Artistic Director until 1971. He then took over as Artistic Director of the Vancouver Playhouse, where he established the Playhouse Acting School with his friend and mentor, the late Powys Thomas.
In 1979 Christopher Newton was appointed Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival. During his 23 seasons he has directed many of the Shaw Festival's major works, including Cavalcade, Misalliance, Man and Superman, You never Can Tell, Caesar and Cleopatra, Heartbreak House, Major Barbara, The Millionairess, Pygmalion, The Silver King, Candida, Sherlock Holmes, Hobson's Choice, Lady Windermere's Fan, Easy Virtue, The Doctor's Dilemma, The Matchmaker, Peter Pan and The Return of the Prodigal.
Whenever his responsibilities as Artistic Director permit, he continues to act at the Shaw. In 1997 he appeared in the North American premiere of The Secret Life. He also has extensive television, radio and film credits, and directs opera. He has written several stage plays, including Slow Train to St. Ives, You Stay Here the Rest Come with Me, Trip and The Sound of Distant Thunder. The Manitoba Theatre Centre, Theatre Calgary, National Arts Centre and Vancouver Playhouse have produced Mr. Newton's plays. In the fall of 1997 he directed a new production of An Inspector Calls for Theatre Calgary. In the winter and spring of 1998 he lectured at the University of Singapore and directed Shaw's Misalliance for the Melbourne Theatre Company in Australia, and in 1999 he directed She Stoops to Conquer at The Grand Theatre and Vancouver Playhouse.
Over his 23 seasons, Mr. Newton has established an internationally renowned permanent acting ensemble and created The Academy (in 1985) as a forum for skills exchange among members of The Shaw Festival Acting Ensemble. The Ensemble has grown into an exacting professional development program featuring voice and movement classes, scene study and specialized workshops for members of the Company. The Academy also sponsors workshop productions and the annual Directors' Project. Mr. Newton will serve as The Shaw's Artistic Director through the end of the 2002 season.
Margaret Lock
Dr. Margaret Lock is Professor in the Department of Social Studies of Medicine and the Department of Anthropology at McGill University. She is the author of East Asian Medicine in Urban Japan: Varieties of Medical Experience (1980) and Encounters with Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America (1993). Encounters with Aging won the Eileen Basker Memorial Prize, the Canada Council's Canada-Japan Book Award, the Wellcome Medal of the Royal Anthropological Society, the Staley Prize of the School of American Research and the Berkeley Prize. It was also a finalist for the Hiromi Arisawa Award. Both books were published by University of California Press. Her most recent book with UC Press is Twice Dead: Organ Transplants and the Reinvention of Death.
Margaret Lock has edited nine other books and written over 150 scholarly articles. She was the recipient of a Canada Council Killam Research Fellowship (1993-1995), is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research, Population Health Program. She received the Prix du Québec en sciences humaines in 1997.
Much of Dr. Lock's research focuses on the relationship among culture, technological innovation and the body in health and illness. Her broad range of work includes research in connection with brain death and organ transplants. In addition, Dr. Lock is investigating the impact of rapidly changing knowledge about Alzheimer's disease in light of developments in molecular genetics, neuroimaging and epidemiology on the subjective experience and management of the disease as well as on rising public interest in genetic testing. She is involved in a major team research project funded by the Canadian Institutes on Health Research into the impact of molecular and population genetics on psychiatric clinical knowledge and practice and on advocacy organizations responding to mental illness.
General information
The Canada Council for the Arts, in addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts in Canada, administers and awards a number of distinguished prizes in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering. Among these are the Killam Prizes, the Killam Research Fellowships, the Governor General's Literary Awards, the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts and the Walter Carsen Prizes for Excellence in the Performing Arts.
For more information about these awards and prizes, including nomination procedures, contact Carol Bream, Director of Endowments and Prizes, at (613) 566-4414, or 1-800-263-5588, ext. 5041. E-mail: carol.bream@canadacouncil.ca or Janet Riedel, Endowments and Prizes Officer, at (613) 566-4414, or 1-800-263-5588, ext. 4116. E-mail: janet.riedel@canadacouncil.ca
SSHRC is an independent federal government agency that funds university-based research and graduate training in the social sciences and humanities through national peer-reviewed competitions. SSHRC-funded research helps Canadians improve their quality of life and compete in a rapidly changing world.
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Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Doré Dunne:
Public Affairs Division
(613) 992-7302