The playwright of mixed origins Marie Leofeli Romero Barlizo wins the Jovette-Marchessault prize, which is awarded to Montreal theater authors.
“Marie Leofeli Romero Barlizo has the makings of a pioneer and a builder of bridges between communities,” said Espace Go when presenting the award.
The award, given since 2019 and accompanied by a $20,000 scholarship, highlights the contribution of women artists in the Montreal theater community. Each year, the jury awards this honor in a different artistic field. After celebrating the directors and then the designers, the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Espace Go Theater have this year praised the work of the authors.
“Marie Leofeli Romero Barlizo proudly presents herself as the first representative of a visible minority to graduate from the English program in playwriting at the National Theater School of Canada,” said the jury.
Signatory of a dozen plays, the author crosses her Filipino and Chinese roots there without being afraid to approach difficult subjects, such as shame, mental illness or addiction.
In his room The Warrior, she faces the tragic story of the family of her great-uncle, victim of atrocities committed by the Japanese army during the Second World War. His most recent text, The Healingexplores his difficult relationship with his father, and their reconciliation after he nearly died of COVID-19.
The author not only builds her own theatrical work, but also supports that of others. In 2020, she became a professional mentor in the writing program of the National Theater School of Canada, her alma mater. “The deep commitment of Marie Leofeli Romero Barlizo in the theatrical milieu thus contributes to bringing out, then making heard, the essential voices of diversity”, finally underlines the Conseil des arts de Montréal in the press release revealing the name of the winner. .
In 2022-2023, the Jovette-Marchessault Prize will resume the cycle of disciplines from the beginning: it will thus once again be aimed at female directors.