Kevin Loring | |
|---|---|
 Loring in 2024 | |
| Born | November 24, 1974 Lytton, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | playwright, actor |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Alma mater | Studio 58 |
| Period | 2003–present |
| Notable works | Where the Blood Mixes |
Kevin Loring (born November 24, 1974) is a Canadian playwright and actor. As a playwright, he won the Governor General's Award for English-language drama, [1] the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition [2] and the Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script, [3] and was nominated for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, [4] for Where the Blood Mixes in 2009. His 2019 play, Thanks for Giving , was short-listed for the Governor General's Award for Drama. [5] In June 2021 Kevin Loring received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Arts. [6]
Contents
As an actor, his credits include roles in the television series Da Vinci's Inquest , Arctic Air and Health Nutz , and the film Pathfinder , as well as stage roles including Michel Tremblay's Saint Carmen of the Main , George Ryga's The Ecstasy of Rita Joe and Edmund in an all-First Nations production of William Shakespeare's King Lear at the National Arts Centre in 2012. [7] Loring was a writer and co-producer for the documentary War: The Untold Story in 2009. [8]
A Nlaka'pamux from the Lytton First Nation in British Columbia, [9] Loring first began his studies at Cariboo College known now as Thompson Rivers University (TRU). He was a 1997 university transfer student enrolled in an arts program. In 2015 TRU recognized Loring as a distinguished alumni awarding him with the Arts and Culture Award, in recognition of his impact on Canadian arts and culture as a playwright, actor, instructor, and mentor. [10] Loring then studied theatre at the prestigious Studio 58 theatre program at Langara College until 2000. [9] In June 2017, Loring was selected by the Hnatyshyn Foundation as a recipient of the REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award, which honours Indigenous Canadian artists across disciplines. [11] Kevin Loring created the Songs of the Land Project in collaboration with five separate organizations in his home community. [12] This project aimed to bring traditional Nlakap’amux songs and stories, which were recorded on wax cylinders at the beginning of the 20th century by anthropologist James Teit, to contemporary audiences. [13] This work informed The Battle of the Birds, a play which debuted at the Lytton River Festival in 2015, [13] and which was restaged in Ottawa in 2019. [14] It also spurred The Boy Who Was Abandoned, a second production which debuted in Lytton in September 2016. [13]
On June 15, 2017, Loring was announced as the first artistic director for Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa (NAC). [15] In early 2019, the NAC was denied $3.5 million dollars of requested federal funding, a decision which would have a significant impact on the inaugural season. [16] The first production, “The Unnatural and Accidental Women” by Métis playwright Marie Clements opened on September 11, 2019. [17]
