Kevin Loring facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kevin Loring
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Loring in 2024
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| Born | November 24, 1974 Lytton, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | playwright, actor |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Period | 2003–present |
| Notable works | Where the Blood Mixes |
Kevin Loring was born on November 24, 1974. He is a talented Canadian playwright and actor. He has won many awards for his plays. These include the Governor General's Award for English-language drama. He also won the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition. Another award was the Jessie Richardson Award. These were all for his play Where the Blood Mixes in 2009.
In 2019, his play Thanks for Giving was also nominated for a Governor General's Award. In June 2021, the University of Ottawa gave Kevin Loring an honorary doctorate degree. This is a special award for his achievements.
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Kevin Loring's Acting Roles
Kevin Loring is also a skilled actor. He has appeared in several television shows. These include Da Vinci's Inquest, Arctic Air, and Health Nutz. He also acted in the movie Pathfinder.
Stage Performances
On stage, Kevin Loring has played many different characters. He was in Saint Carmen of the Main by Michel Tremblay. He also performed in The Ecstasy of Rita Joe by George Ryga. A special role was Edmund in a play called King Lear. This version of the play featured only First Nations actors. It was performed at the National Arts Centre in 2012. Kevin Loring also worked as a writer and co-producer for a documentary. This film was called War: The Untold Story and came out in 2009.
Background and Community Work
Kevin Loring is a member of the Nlaka'pamux people. His home community is the Lytton First Nation in British Columbia. He started his studies at Cariboo College. This school is now known as Thompson Rivers University (TRU). He studied arts there in 1997.
Awards and Recognition
In 2015, TRU honored Loring as a distinguished alumni. He received the Arts and Culture Award. This award recognized his important work in Canadian arts. He was honored for his roles as a playwright, actor, teacher, and mentor. After TRU, Loring studied theatre at Studio 58. This is a well-known theatre program at Langara College. He finished his studies there in 2000.
In June 2017, Loring received another special award. It was the REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award. This award celebrates Indigenous Canadian artists.
Songs of the Land Project
Kevin Loring created the Songs of the Land Project. He worked with five groups in his home community. This project aimed to share traditional Nlakap’amux songs and stories. These songs were recorded long ago on wax cylinders. An anthropologist named James Teit recorded them in the early 1900s.
This project inspired two plays. The first was The Battle of the Birds. It first showed at the Lytton River Festival in 2015. It was performed again in Ottawa in 2019. The second play was The Boy Who Was Abandoned. It debuted in Lytton in September 2016.
Leading Indigenous Theatre
On June 15, 2017, Kevin Loring was chosen for a very important role. He became the first artistic director for Indigenous Theatre. This is a new program at the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa.
The first play for this new program opened on September 11, 2019. It was called “The Unnatural and Accidental Women”. This play was written by Métis playwright Marie Clements.
Kevin Loring's Published Works
Kevin Loring has written several plays and books.
- Where the Blood Mixes (Talonbooks, 2009)
- Native Americans: A Visual Exploration [introduction only] (Annick Press, 2013), by Shaker Paleja
- Thanks for Giving (Talonbooks, 2019)
- Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer: A Trickster Land Claim Fable (Talonbooks, 2022)
- Lytton: Climate Change, Colonialism and Life Before the Fire (Penguin Random House Canada, 2024)
