Kim Collier, artistic director of Electric Company Theatre, has been shortlisted for the $100,000 Siminovitch Prize.

Electric Company Theatre's artistic director and co-founder Kim Collier has been short-listed for the largest prize in Canadian theatre: the 2010 Siminovitch Prize for Theatre. Collier, the only British Columbian nominee, is up for the award alongside Ron Jenkins of Edmonton, and Ross Manson, Alisa Palmer, Soheil Parsa, and Jennifer Tarver, all from Toronto. The finalists were chosen from a long-list of 19 directors.

"The prize not only recognizes excellence within an evolving body of work but innovation, exploration, and risk-taking as well," said jury chair Maureen Labonté in a news release. "It is not a lifetime achievement award and therefore it has the very exciting potential to make a real difference in the recipient's artistic path, allowing him or her to go further in the pursuit of excellence."

Established in 2001, the Siminovitch Prize, Canada's largest annual theatre arts award, recognizes direction, playwriting, and design in three-year cycles. The $100,000 prize, to be presented November 1 in Toronto, includes $100,000, of which $25,000 is directed to a protégé or organization of the recipient's choice.If awarded to Collier, it would mark the first time a B.C. artist has received the Siminovitch Prize.