Kevin Loring (born November 24, 1974) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

playwright and actor. As a playwright, he won the

Governor General's Award for English-language drama The Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama was divided. Because the awa ...

, the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition and the Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script, and was nominated for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, for
Where the Blood Mixes
' in 2009. His 2019 play,
Thanks for Giving
', was short-listed for the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for Drama. In June 2021 Kevin Loring received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Arts. As an actor, his credits include roles in the television series ''

Da Vinci's Inquest ''Da Vinci's Inquest'' is a Canadian crime drama television series which originally aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2005. While never a ratings blockbuster, the critically acclaimed show did attract a loyal following, and ultimately seven se ...

'', ''

Arctic Air ''Arctic Air'' is a Canadian drama television series that began airing on CBC Television on January 10, 2012. The series was canceled on March 17, 2014, due to government budgetary cuts. Synopsis ''Arctic Air'' is about a Yellowknife-based mave ...

'' and '' Health Nutz'', and the film ''

Pathfinder Pathfinder, Path Finder or Pathfinders may refer to: Aerospace * ''Mars Pathfinder'', a NASA Mars Lander * NASA Pathfinder, a high-altitude, solar-powered uncrewed aircraft * Space Shuttle ''Pathfinder'', a Space Shuttle test simulator Arts and ...

'', as well as stage roles including

Michel Tremblay Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a Canadian writer, novelist and playwright. Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood ...

's
Saint Carmen of the Main
', George Ryga's '' The Ecstasy of Rita Joe'' and Edmund in an all-

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

production of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' at the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

in 2012."A 'King Lear' in need of a king "
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', May 13, 2012. Loring was a writer and co-producer for the documentary War: The Untold Story in 2009. A

Nlaka'pamux The Nlakaʼpamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', '' Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''K ...

from the

Lytton First Nation The Lytton First Nation (), a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government, has its headquarters at Lytton, British Columbia, Lytton in the Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the largest of all Nlaka ...

in British Columbia,"Where the Blood Mixes draws on healing power of stories"
. ''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools ...

'', May 28, 2008. Loring first began his studies at Cariboo College known now as Thompson Rivers University (TRU). He was a 1997 university transfer student enrolled in an arts program. In 2015 TRU recognized Loring as a distinguished alumni awarding him with the Arts and Culture Award, in recognition of his impact on Canadian arts and culture as a playwright, actor, instructor, and mentor. Loring then studied theatre at the prestigious

Studio 58 Studio 58 is the professional theatre training school at Langara College in Vancouver, British Columbia. The school offers a three-year diploma program for acting students and a three-year diploma program for production students. It is regarded ...

theatre program at

Langara College Langara College (snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ in ''Halkomelem'') is a public degree-granting college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which serves more than 19,000 students annually. Langara College started in 1965 as part of Vancouver Community ...

until 2000. In June 2017, Loring was selected by the Hnatyshyn Foundation as a recipient of th
REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award
which honours Indigenous Canadian artists across disciplines. Kevin Loring created th
Songs of the Land Project
in collaboration with five separate organizations in his home community. This project aimed to bring traditional Nlakap’amux songs and stories, which were recorded on wax cylinders at the beginning of the 20th century by anthropologist

James Teit James Alexander Teit (15 April 1864 — 30 October 1922) was an anthropologist, photographer and guide who worked with Franz Boas to study Interior Salish First Nations peoples in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He led expeditions throu ...

, to contemporary audiences. This work informed ''The Battle of the Birds'', a play which debuted at the Lytton River Festival in 2015, and which was restaged in Ottawa in 2019. It also spurred ''The Boy Who Was Abandoned'', a second production which debuted in Lytton in September 2016. On June 15, 2017, Loring was announced as the first artistic director fo
Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa (NAC)
In early 2019, the NAC was denied $3.5 million dollars of requested federal funding, a decision which would have a significant impact on the inaugural season. The first production, “ The Unnatural and Accidental Women” by

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

playwright

Marie Clements Marie Clements (born January 10, 1962) is a Canadian Métis playwright, performer, director, producer and screenwriter. She was the founding artistic director of Urban Ink Productions, and is currently co-artistic director of Red Diva Projects, ...

opened on September 11, 2019.

Works

* ''Where the Blood Mixes'' (

Talonbooks Talonbooks is an independent publisher of Canadian literature based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its repertoire features authors writing in the literary genres of poetry, fiction and drama, as well as non-fiction books in the fields of ethnogra ...

, 2009) * ''Native Americans: A Visual Exploration'' ntroduction only(

Annick Press Annick Press is a Canadian book publishing company that was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1975 by Anne Millyard and Rick Wilks. Rick Wilks became the sole owner in 2000. A second editorial office was opened in Vancouver by Colleen MacMillan in 1 ...

, 2013), by Shaker Paleja * ''Thanks for Giving'' (

, 2019) * Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer: A Trickster Land Claim Fable (

, 2022) * Lytton: Climate Change, Colonialism and Life Before the Fire ( Penguin Random House Canada, 2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loring, Kevin 1974 births Living people Canadian male television actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian male stage actors 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Male actors from British Columbia Writers from British Columbia Governor General's Award–winning dramatists First Nations male actors First Nations dramatists and playwrights Nlaka'pamux people People from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian theatre directors 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century First Nations writers Langara College people