Toronto, ON (June 30, 2025) – The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced that Beatriz Pizano is this year’s recipient of the annual Silver Ticket Award. Inaugurated in 1980, this award is presented by TAPA to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the stage in the Toronto area. The distinguished panel of past Silver Ticket recipients considers individuals who have worked professionally in the performing arts industry and not only have excelled in their own careers, but also contributed to the development of Canadian theatre by helping and encouraging others. The recipient receives a lifetime of complimentary tickets to TAPA member company productions. Past recipients include playwright Tomson Highway, theatre producers David Mirvish and Marlene Smith, and choreographer Christopher House.
Pizano is an award-winning actor, director, and playwright, and the Founding Artistic Director of Aluna Theatre, a celebrated not-for-profit company that creates, develops, produces and presents artistically innovative and culturally diverse performance work, with a focus on Latin Canadian and women artists.
Says Pizano about her Silver Ticket Award win: “The Dora Awards keep changing my life. My very first play, For Sale, received three nominations in 2003, and won two. I went from being a nobody to suddenly being invited to partake in internships and opportunities in the established theatres. It was not only a recognition for us at Aluna Theatre for a whole community of underrepresented artists. In 2014, I became the first Latinx female actor to win an award for my
performance in Blood Weddings. Now, as I look at my future and that of my community, the Silver Ticket Award recognizes a long trajectory of work as an artist and community builder. But most of all, it encourages me to keep dreaming, creating, and shaping the sector.”
About Beatriz Pizano
Beatriz Pizano is an actor/director/playwright and the founder and Artistic Director of Aluna Theatre. Over the last two decades, she has built Aluna into an international company recognized for its unique approach to creation, its daring political work, and its experimentation with multiple-language productions.
Her bold creations, in English and Spanish are marked by a distinct theatrical language drawing from the heritages, cultures, and languages from across the Americas. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including the John Hirsch Prize, the Chalmers Fellowship, K.M. Hunter Award, 100 Colombianos
and Colombiano Estrella. She is the first Colombian actress to win the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Award and a Dora Award for her performance in Blood Weddings. She has been recognized twice by the Colombian government (President Santos and President Duque) for her work as a promoter and a mentor to the Latinx artists living and working in Canada. In 2019 she was named TD Bank’s 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians. In 2023 she received the Trailblazer & Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition (Caltac). In 2024 she was a finalist for The Celebration of Cultural Life Award from the Toronto Arts Foundation.
She has written and directed a number of award winning and touring productions for Aluna. Her play Madre and Dividing Lines | Líneas Divisorias have both been published by Playwrights Canada Press. She is passionate about her work as a playwright, dramaturge and director. In 2019 she was the senior playwright at the Banff Centre’s Playwright’s Lab. Her writing challenges Eurocentric approaches to theatre creation. She is a fierce activist who creates spaces and opportunities for racialized artists and playwrights.