2018 Harold Awards to Be Presented 6/11

Once a year, indie theatre (barely) gets its shit together and gives out some goddamn awards. This is a once-a-year, one-night-only party where we come together to honour and heckle hustlers in Toronto's independent theatre community.

Harold Awards are passed down year-to-year. It saves the time of announcing nominees. There is no higher honour than to be "Harolded" and become a "Haroldee". Along with the everlasting glory and a cash prize of $0, each winner is forced into organizing the next year's awards and choosing next year's winners. Which is why this press release is coming to you like a week out from the event.

The people being Harolded are also tricked into coming, so they don't know they're winning until they do. It's all about tricking. Like when you trick your friends into coming to your terrible show. But at this show, it's totally acceptable to boo your friends off the stage. If only that were encouraged at them all.

Every year one of last year's winners also has to design a new Harold Award. It really is a lot of work to put this thing together. This year, the award is being designed by James McKernan.

LAST YEAR'S HAROLDEES = THIS YEAR'S HAROLDERS

Cole Alvis, The Bellows, Jeff Ho, Britta Johnson, Falen Johnson, Owais Lightwala, Holly Lloyd, Mitchell Marcus, James McKernan, Ngozi Paul, Kelly Read, Andrea Scott, Robert Watson

WHY ARE THE HAROLDS EVEN A THING:

Born on May 30, 1906, Harold Kandel achieved notoriety in Toronto's theatre community with his tireless commitment and frequent heckling. Knowledge of Harold's presence in an audience would elicit a double-edged response of dread and pride in the heart of a performer. If Harold was in the house - it meant you had arrived. If Harold was in the house - it meant it was going to be a long night. After Harold's death in 1994 a group of 13 theatre artists assembled to create this now-legendary annual event in celebration of the spirit of dedication, commitment and passion of Toronto's vibrant theatre community.

A SPECIAL HAROLD CALLED THE KEN McDOUGALL AWARD::
Established in 1995 by Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, Platform 9 and Theatre Passe Muraille, the annual Ken McDougall Award serves to acknowledge a promising emerging director. Previous recipients have been: Franco Boni, Cathy Gordon, Chris Abraham, Simon Heath, Patrick Conner, Ellen Ray Hennessey, Nina Aquino, Brendan Healy, Bea Pizano, Leora Morris, Mitchell Cushman, Matthew Thomas Walker, Ravi Jain, Jacob Zimmer, Christine Brubaker and last year's winner, Jiv Parasram.

ANOTHER SPECIAL HAROLD CALLED THE BARBARA FINGEROTE VOLUNTEER AWARD:

Established in 2012 by the 2012 Harold Award Planning Committee, the annual Barbara Fingerote Volunteer Award acknowledges the dedication and commitment of the volunteers in the performing arts in Toronto who help the artists and administrators make the show go on. Last Year's Winner: Don Kendal.

ALL YOU N*E*R*D TO KNOW:

Monday June 11th, 2018
Starts @ 7:30pm (Doors at 7:00pm)
Tallulah's Cabaret - Buddies In Bad Times Theatre
Tickets: Pay What You Can Afford - $10/$20/$30

Box Office: tiny.cc/harolds or 416-975-8555
Hosted by: Ngozi Paul and Robert Watson

haroldawards.com

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