Ada Slaight Drama in Education Award
Young People’s Theatre (YPT) is delighted to announce Tita Kyrtsakas as the fourth recipient of the Ada Slaight Drama in Education Award. This fall, Tita begins her Ph.D. in English with a concentration in Young Adult Literature at York University. Her research focuses on how Young Adult Literature (YAL) addresses grief and what grief-themed performances and plays offer young audience members.
“I hope that with my project, I will be able to demonstrate that YAL has the potential, as an increasingly popular genre, to positively affect the way young adults view and handle grief, especially in the writing of plays and the performing of them.” – Tita Kyrtsakas
Tita holds a M.A. in Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Education in Intermediate and Senior Divisions of English and Drama, and a B.A. in English Literature and Drama from the University of Windsor. When she’s not in school, Tita is editor-in-chief of Feminist Space Camp, a digital volunteer-run magazine and interdisciplinary arts collective. She is also a writer and her work has been published in Shameless Magazine, Type/Cast,and The Drive.
The Award Advisory Committee was once again excited by the breadth and depth of research demonstrated in the pool of applications received this year. Tita will receive a cash award of $10,000, made possible through the support of The Slaight Family Foundation. In 2015, YPT received an extraordinary gift of $3 million from the Foundation which resulted in the creation of The Ada Slaight Education Centre at YPT, celebrating her inspiring commitment to young artists and audiences.
The Ada Slaight Drama in Education Award was first awarded in YPT’s 2016.17 Season to Rachel Rhoades, a Ph.D. candidate studying at the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. In 2017.18, the prize was awarded to Dennis Gupa, a Ph.D. candidate studying Sea Rituals, Climate Change and Applied Theatre at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. The recipient for the 2018.19 Season was Abigail Shabtay, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education in the Faculty of Education at McGill University.