Layne Coleman

Last updated

Layne Coleman is a Canadian actor, playwright and theatre director, most noted as a former artistic director of Theatre Passe Muraille. [1] Originally from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, [2] he first became prominent as a cofounder and artistic director of the 25th Street Theatre in Saskatoon in the 1980s. [3]

Contents

He briefly stepped in as interim artistic director of Theatre Passe Muraille in 1991 following the departure of Brian Richmond, [4] holding the role for about a year before he was succeeded by Susan Serran in early 1992; [5] he stepped in again as interim artistic director in 1997 after Serran left, [6] and was named the permanent artistic director the following year. [7] Coleman established an early success when Michael Healey's The Drawer Boy , the first play he booked for the theatre, went on to become one of the most critically and commercially popular Canadian plays of the decade. [8]

Coleman held the role with Theatre Passe Muraille until 2007. [9]

In addition to 25th Street Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille, he has also directed plays for Factory Theatre, Canadian Stage and the National Arts Centre. [3]

Acting

Coleman’s stage roles as an actor have included productions of Lips Together, Teeth Apart and Oleanna at Canadian Stage, The Life and Times of Mackenzie King, Inquest, Adult Entertainment, The End of Civilization and Escape from Happiness at Factory Theatre, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe for the Western Canada Theatre Company, Goodness for Volcano Theatre and Heaven Above, Heaven Below with Theatre Passe Muraille. [3]

He has also had supporting or guest roles in the television films War Brides , [10] Ready for Slaughter, Best of Both Worlds, A Matter of Sex, The Marriage Bed , Glory! Glory! and Giant Mine , the television series Harvest, Night Heat , Street Legal , E.N.G. , Wind at My Back and This Is Wonderland , and the theatrical films Humongous and Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe .

Writing

As a playwright, his plays have included Blue City Slammers, [11] Tijuana Cure [12] and Highway 63. [13]

Coleman cowrote the screenplays for the film adaptation of Blue City Slammers (1987) [14] and The Shape of Rex (2013), with the latter film serving as his own directorial debut. [15]

Awards

He received several Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations for his performances in The Al Cornell Story, [16] Public Lies, [17] As I Lay Dying [18] and The Walls of Africa. [19] He has won two honorary Doras, including the George Luscombe Award for mentorship in 2005 [20] and the Silver Ticket for outstanding contributions to the development of Canadian theatre. [21]

Personal life

He was married to writer Carole Corbeil; [22] his theatrical play Tijuana Cure is about her treatment for and death of cancer. [12] Their daughter, Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman, is an actor and playwright. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel MacIvor</span>

Daniel MacIvor is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director, and film director. He is probably best known for his acting roles in independent films and the sitcom Twitch City.

Theatre Passe Muraille Canadian theatre company

Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Evalyn Parry Canadian theatre maker and singer-songwriter

Evalyn Parry is a Canadian performance-maker, theatrical innovator and singer-songwriter. She grew up in Toronto, Ontario in the Kensington Market neighborhood. Her music combines elements of spoken word and folk.

Nicky Guadagni Canadian actress

Nicky Guadagni is a Canadian actress who has worked on stage, radio, film and television.

The Drawer Boy is a play by Michael Healey. It is a two-act play set in 1972 on a farm near Clinton, Ontario. There are only three characters: the farm's two owners, Morgan and Angus, and Miles Potter, a young actor from Toronto doing research for a collectively created theatre piece about farming.

Mark Brownell is a Toronto-based playwright and co-artistic director of the Pea Green Theatre Group with his wife, Sue Miner.

Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and actress. Her 2008 play, Scratch, was nominated for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play in 2009, was a prizewinner in the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition, and was nominated for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2010 Governor General's Awards.

Carole Corbeil was a Canadian arts critic and novelist. Born in Montreal to Québécois parents, her writing was often informed by the cultural displacement, and the subsequent sense of dual belonging, that she experienced when her parents divorced and her mother remarried to an anglophone man.

David Yee is a Canadian actor and playwright. His play lady in the red dress was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English language drama at the 2010 Governor General's Awards. His play carried away on the crest of a wave won this award at the 2015 Governor General's Awards.

The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role - Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live Canadian theatre.

The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role - Musical is an annual award celebrating achievements in live Canadian theatre.

Ronald Pederson is a Canadian (Métis) actor, comedian and theatre director who has worked extensively throughout Canada and in the United States. He has performed with most of Canada's major theatres including The Stratford Festival, The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, The Citadel Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Arts Club, The Vancouver Playhouse, The Young Centre, The Canadian Stage Company, The Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Soulpepper and The SummerWorks Festival. Pederson has also worked extensively in television and may be best known for his Canadian Comedy Award-Nominated work and his three seasons on Fox Television's MADtv.

Damien Atkins is a Canadian actor and playwright.

Ken McDougall (1953–1994) was a Canadian actor and theatre director. Predominantly a stage actor in Toronto, Ontario, he is best known to film audiences for his performance as Chris, a dancer dying of AIDS, in the film The Last Supper; the film was an adaptation of Hillar Liitoja's 1993 stage play of the same name, in which McDougall originated the role.

Kat Sandler Canadian actress, playwright, and theatre director

Kat Sandler is a Canadian actress, playwright, and theatre director.

Theresa Tova is a Canadian actress, singer and playwright. She is most noted for her play Still the Night, which won several Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 1997 and was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 1999 Governor General's Awards.

Hillar Liitoja is a Canadian playwright and theatre director. He is most noted for his 1993 play The Last Supper, which won the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award in 1994 and was adapted by Cynthia Roberts into the 1994 feature film The Last Supper.

Gord Rand is a Canadian actor and playwright. He is most noted for his recurring role as Det. Marty Duko in the television series Orphan Black, for which he was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Performance in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017.

Anne Anglin is a Canadian actress and theatre director. She is most noted for her performance as Sharon in the 1986 television film Turning to Stone, for which she was a Genie Award nominee for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Program or Series at the 1st Gemini Awards, and her recurring role as Mrs. Cooney, the grandmother of J.T. Yorke, in Degrassi: The Next Generation.

Salt-Water Moon is a Canadian theatrical play by David French, first staged by Tarragon Theatre in 1984. It is the third in his Mercer Plays series, following Leaving Home (1972) and Of the Fields, Lately (1973), and preceding 1949 (1988) and Soldier’s Heart (2001).

References

  1. ↑ Vit Wagner, "Theatre's man for all seasons". Toronto Star , September 19, 1998.
  2. ↑ "Local film wins praise at Madrid festival". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix , February 28, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Coleman, Layne". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, June 22, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Coleman steps in". The Globe and Mail , January 31, 1991.
  5. ↑ Christopher Harris, "Passe Muraille names artistic producer". The Globe and Mail , January 7, 1992.
  6. ↑ Dierdre Kelly, "Theatre picks acting director". The Globe and Mail , October 3, 1997.
  7. ↑ Kate Taylor, "Passing the torch at Passe Muraille". The Globe and Mail , October 17, 1998.
  8. ↑ Cam Fuller, "Coleman picks a winner: Award-winning The Drawer Boy his first selection at Theatre Passe Muraille". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix , February 7, 2001.
  9. ↑ Richard Ouzonian, "Playing with time; Theatre Passe Muraille's outrageous productions stirred Toronto 40 years ago". Toronto Star , October 25, 2007.
  10. ↑ Ned Powers, "25th Street director stars in CBC drama". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix , September 19, 1980.
  11. ↑ "Cuts may give Slammers a hit". Toronto Star , October 20, 1985.
  12. 1 2 Robert Crew, "Layne's play sadly misses Carole". Toronto Star , March 13, 2009.
  13. ↑ Bruce DeMara, "Fort Mac's muddled road trip". Toronto Star , February 11, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Blue City hits a bland slam". Toronto Star , April 29, 1988.
  15. ↑ "Saskatoon film up for award". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix , January 6, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Dora Mavor Moore awards: Tamara paces the nominees". The Globe and Mail , October 1, 1982.
  17. ↑ "Dora nominations list". Toronto Star , May 18, 1994.
  18. ↑ Geoff Chapman, "Canadian Stage, Tarragon lead Dora nominations". Toronto Star , May 17, 1996.
  19. ↑ Robert Crew, "Dora names noms ; Tarragon Theatre leads this year's nominations with 16". Toronto Star , May 17, 2002.
  20. ↑ Robert Crew, "Urinetown gets stream of Dora nominations". Toronto Star , June 9, 2005.
  21. ↑ Richard Ouzonian, "Write-in vote for Evil Dead Dora upset; Musical is favourite of city's audiences though it wasn't one of the jurors' picks". Toronto Star , June 26, 2007.
  22. 1 2 "A very personal family drama". Toronto Star , October 4, 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.