London Community Players will receive this year’s Chris Doty Award at the Brickenden Award ceremony.
The Chris Doty award is given to member or group in the London community to celebrate their lifelong contributions to theatre. LCP has been part of the community for 40 years.
“It’s the first award of this kind that we’ve received. We received awards at the provincial and local level, but this is first time that the organization as a whole has been recognized,” explained LCP President Barry Tepperman.
The award is named after Chris Doty who was a local playwright and theatre enthusiast and was part of the creation of the Brickenden Awards in 2002.
“It means a lot. It’s recognition that London Community Players has been an interval part of the London theatre scene.” Tepperman added, “LCP started as London’s little theatre and since then has grown in leaps and bounds.”
Anne Cuthbert is one of the founding members of the group. She joined when she was 17 years old as a stage manager and is still active with LCP. Cuthbert will be joining Tepperman to receive the award.
“I feel embarrassed that I’m the person who happened to be president when Brickenden decided to present this award. It’s just sheer luck. Cuthbert has been part of this group from the beginning, for those 40 years.”
Tepperman has been an active member of the board for 8 years. He became president of the group just 6 months ago.
Brickenden Chair Greg Hanbuch announced the award early so all members of the troupe could attend the ceremony and celebrate. Hanbuch said that LCP has had a tremendous impact on local theatre.
The award is presented on January 26 at London Central Library’s Wolf Performance Hall.
