Cass Davey, a second-year undergraduate student in the Classical Civilizations program, won the 2023 Robert Beardsley Award for Young Playwrights from the Playwrights Guild of Canada for their work Iphigenia in Dreaming, an adaptation of Euripides’ tragedy Iphigenia in Tauris.
The Robert Beardsley Award is presented annually at the Tom Hendry Playwriting Awards in recognition of outstanding one-act plays less than an hour in length by a playwright under the age of 30 pursuing post-secondary education and residing in the Greater Toronto Area.
As a Classics student, Cass found they were simultaneously doing research for their assignments and for their play. Also drawing inspiration from other Toronto-based playwrights reimaging ancient Greek theatre, such as Erin Shields, Ho Ka Ke, and Makram Ayache, Cass pointed to the immense influence and enduring relevance of classical drama, at once incredibly distant and deeply intimate, as providing the creative impetus for their work. Cass also studies theatre at U of T's Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies.
Their other work includes a one-act play about Helen of Troy (an abridged version performed of which was recently performed at the Groundswell Festival) and an in-progress adaptation of Sophocles’ Elektra.
A digital script of Iphigenia in Dreaming is available for purchase through the Canadian Play Outlet.
Congratulations, Cass!