St. Patrick’s production of Exstrophy earns provincial DramaFest honours for choreography and original script
Chloe Fleisher, a Grade 12 student at St. Patrick Catholic Secondary School, has received a MIRA Award for Excellence at the National Theatre School (NTS) DramaFest Provincial Showcase.
Fleisher is one of only six students in Ontario to earn this distinction. The award recognizes her role as co-writer and dramaturg for the original play, Exstrophy.
More than 70 students collaborated to write and produce the play under the leadership of award-winning Department Head of Arts at St. Patrick, Lynise Reedy.
After earning Outstanding Production honours at both the district and regional competitions, the school was one of two from the Toronto region to advance to the NTS DramaFest Provincial Showcase, held at York University from May 20 to 23.
Last month’s performance was the school’s second provincial appearance in three years, following previous success with the original play, Mag-Ina, in 2024.
Exstrophy tells the story of Clara, a 16-year-old dancer living with an invisible condition, bladder exstrophy, and highlights the protagonist’s efforts to define her own autonomy within a system not designed to meet her needs.
Along with Fleisher’s MIRA Award, Exstrophy was also honoured with the Outstanding Choreography Award at the provincial showcase.
In a report from the Toronto Catholic District School Board, DramaFest adjudicator Mike Payette praised the production’s artistry and cohesion. He described the work as both “beautiful and terrifying,” highlighting the complexity of Exstrophy.
A lifelong Beach resident, Fleisher also attended Williamson Road Junior Public School and St. Denis Catholic School prior to going to high school at St. Patrick.
To ensure Exstrophy’s authenticity, Fleisher led several initiatives including conducting interviews with patients to research the condition, facilitating discussions around surgical management and daily medical routines, and leveraging general insights from her lived experience and service as a youth patient advisor.
“Mainstream media antagonizes health conditions, framing them as battles to be won. Patient experiences are reduced to drama, doctors are glorified, and the person within the condition is ignored,” said Fleisher. “Exstrophy explores the nuance of living with a hidden disability and embraces coexisting with medical challenges, rather than defeating them.”
Fleisher is a national youth advocate for integrating the patient voice into healthcare through the arts.
She previously won the Canadian Pain Society Art Award for her visceral piece, “Displacement,” which is used by healthcare providers to convey the impact of pediatric chronic pain. Fleisher also serves on the SickKids Hospital Patient Advisory Council, is a Youth Advisor for the Canadian Disability Participation Project, and is a Patient Partner with Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), where she co-created My Comfort Plan for Surgery to help children communicate pain management preferences around surgery. This resource is part of a Health Canada-funded initiative, Youth in Pain, to promote safe, effective, and equitable medical use of opioids for children and adolescents.
