The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Leading Performer (General Theatre) is an annual Canadian theatre award, presented as part of the Dora Mavor Moore Awards to honour the year's best performance in a leading role in a stage production in the Toronto theatre market.
At the first awards in 1980, a single ungendered category was presented, with two winners. The following year, separate awards were presented for Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress, which remained in place until TAPA announced in 2018 that they would return to presenting ungendered acting categories."Dora Mavor Moore Awards to adopt gender-neutral performance categories". CBC Arts, April 25, 2018.
Winners and nominees YearActressTitleRef 1980 Linda Griffiths Maggie and Pierre Ray Conlogue, "Dora Mavor Moore Awards suffer from stage fright". The Globe and Mail, January 27, 1981. Viola Léger La Sagouine Andrew Gillies Strawberry Fields Gina Mallet, "Controversial Bent set for Toronto run". Toronto Star, January 23, 1981. Michael Hogan Something Red Dan MacDonald American Buffalo Fiona Reid Born Yesterday Wenna Shaw The Relapse R. H. Thomson Judgement From 1981 to 2019 see Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Leading Actor (General Theatre) and Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Leading Actress (General Theatre). 2019 Virgilia Griffith Harlem Duet Brad Wheeler, "Female playwrights win big at Dora Awards". The Globe and Mail, June 25, 2019. Lovell Adams-Gray Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Debra Yeo, "Dora Awards go gender neutral for 40th edition: First show of its kind in Canada to adopt fully inclusive policy". Toronto Star, May 29, 2019. Sarah Afful Orlando Maev Beaty Secret Life of a Mother Yolanda Bonnell bug Vivien Endicott-Douglas Guarded Girls Natasha Mumba School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play Gray Powell Middletown 2020 Anand Rajaram Buffoon Maev Beaty August: Osage County Saïd Benyoucef Besbouss Daren A. Herbert Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train Xavier Lopez Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train Durae McFarlane The Flick Nancy Palk August: Osage County Amy Rutherford A Streetcar Named Desire 2021 No ceremony held due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada on theatre production in 2020. "Dora Awards honour lifetime achievement in theatre as COVID-19 shuts down live shows: Dora Mavor Moore Awards celebrates lifetime contributions after COVID-19 pandemic shut down live performances". The Globe and Mail, June 16, 2021. 2022 Alexis Gordon Room Joshua Chong, "‘Sweeney Todd,’ ‘Italian Mime Suicide’ and ‘Wildfire’ win big at 2022 Dora Awards". Toronto Star, September 19, 2022. Cliff Cardinal The Land Acknowledgment (As You Like It) Aisling Murphy, "Nomination Announcements: 42nd Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards". Intermission Magazine, August 29, 2022. Carolyn Fe Three Women of Swatow Tony Ofori Pipeline Oyin Oladejo Is God Is Zorana Sadiq MixTape Vanessa Sears Is God Is Hannah Spear Mission Totally Possible 2023 Dan Mousseau Prodigal Hélène Crowley, "Announcing the 2023 Dora Mavor Moore Award Winners". Intermission Magazine, June 27, 2023. Virgilia Griffith Our Place Deborah Hay Fall On Your Knees Part Two: The Diary Ali Kazmi Behind the Moon Allan Louis Red Velvet Ahmed Moneka Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo Sophia Walker Our Place Bahia Watson Uncle Vanya 2024 Amaka Umeh Sizwe Banzi is Dead Glenn Sumi, "Dora Awards 2024: ‘Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812’ earns four statuettes at Toronto’s top theatre honours". Toronto Star, June 24, 2024. Sean Arbuckle Casey and Diana Aisling Murphy, "TAPA announces 2024 Dora Award nominees". Intermission Magazine, May 28, 2004. Damien Atkins Here Lies Henry Walter Borden The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time Daniel MacIvor The Inheritance, Pt. 1 Ahmed Moneka King Gilgamesh and the Man of the Wild Mike Shara The Master Plan Bahia Watson shaniqua in abstraction 2025 Miriam Fernandes Mahabharata: Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit Beatriz Ferreira, "2025 Dora Mavor Moore Awards: Winners honoured for excellence in Toronto theatre". Now, July 1, 2025. Akosua Amo-Adem Table for Two Krystal Abrigo, "TAPA reveals 2025 Dora Award nominees". Intermission, May 28, 2025. Martha Burns Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Ins Choi Kim's Convenience Peter Fernandes Fat Ham Virgilia Griffith Rosmersholm Vanessa Sears Shedding a Skin Kevin Matthew Wong Benevolence 2026 Sophia Walker Slave Play A.A. Cristi, "2026 Dora Mavor Moore Awards Winners Announced; See the Full List". Broadway World, June 29, 2026. Amanda Cordner How to Catch Creation Chloe Rabinowitz, "TAPA Reveals 2026 Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominations". Broadway World, June 1, 2026. Michelle Monteith Red Like Fruit Béatrice René-Décarie The Misunderstanding (Le malentendu) Ordena Stephens-Thompson The Neighbours Gabriella Sundar Singh Through the Eyes of God Bahia Watson Summer and Smoke The Welkin
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