Marcus Youssef

Marcus Youssef is a recipient of Canada's largest theatre award, the Siminovitch Prize, for his body of work as a playwright and mentor. Notable works include Winners and Losers, A Line in the Sand, Jabber, Ali & Ali and the aXes of Evil, King Arthur's Night (now a feature length film from Opus 59 Productions), because i love the diversity, Peter Panties, Adrift, The In-Between and three iterations of Vancouver's beloved East Van Panto. These and others have been produced in multiple languages in most major theatre across Canada, off-Broadway and in seven US states, in state theaters across Germany and Austria, across the UK, and in Hong Kong, Iceland, Romania, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Czech Republic. In addition to the Siminovitch Prize, Marcus is the recipient of Germany’s Ikarus Prize, the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award, the Rio Tinto Alcan Performing Arts Award, the Chalmers' Canadian Play Award, a Seattle Times Footlight award, an Honorary Fellowship from Vancouver’s Douglas College, the Vancouver Critics’ Innovation award (three times), the Canada Council Staunch-Lynton Award, as well as numerous local awards and nominations in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Marcus has been artist or playwright in residence at many institutions, including Tarragon Theatre, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Australia’s Sydney Festival. As an organizational and sectoral leader, Marcus was artistic director of Neworld Theatre (2005-19), where he co-founded the artist-run production studio Progress Lab 1422. He has served as inaugural chair of the City of Vancouver Arts and Culture Advisory Committee, artistic advisor of the National Arts Centre English Theatre, and artistic associate of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival. Marcus teaches regularly at the National Theatre School of Canada, the University of British Columbia and Studio 58, Langara and implemented Canada's first multi-institutional Bachelor of Performing Arts degree, at Capilano University.