Vern Thiessen (born c. 1964) is a Canadian playwright.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Thiessen studied at the University of Winnipeg and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He later attended the University of Alberta, where he obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Thiessen previously lived in Edmonton, Alberta and was formerly a drama instructor at the University of Alberta. He is a past president of both the Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Writers' Guild of Alberta.
Thiessen is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Governor General's Award for English-language drama (Einstein's Gift), the Carol Bolt Award for Best Play (Vimy) and the Sterling Award for Outstanding New Play (Apple). He has also received the City of Edmonton Arts Achievement Award and the Alumni Award of Excellence from the University of Alberta. He has been nominated several times for other awards including the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, and was a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Lenin's Embalmers.
Thiessen's work has been translated into several languages including German, French, Polish and Hebrew. His plays are performed regularly in Canada, the United States, the UK and Europe. He has also been produced in Australia and Asia. Shakespeare's Will has been produced twice at Canada's Stratford Festival. Lenin's Embalmers, A More Perfect Union and Einstein's Gift have been produced Off-Broadway.
Thiessen has served as playwright in residence at the Citadel Theatre and Workshop West Theatre in Edmonton. He is currently an associate artist at Epic Theatre Ensemble. He is also project associate for the New Play Frontiers program at People's Light at Theatre in Malvern, PA.
Thiessen is currently at work on several commissions for the Ensemble Studio Theatre (New York), Touchstone Theatre/Patrick Street (Vancouver), Soulpepper Theatre Company (Toronto) and Epic Theatre Ensemble (New York.) His plays are published by Playwrights Canada Press.
From 2007 until 2014 he lived in New York City. He is married to novelist Susie Moloney.
Vern served as artistic director of Work Shop West Theatre in Edmonton beginning in 2014. [1]
In 2014 he won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play for his theatrical adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage .
Maureen Hunter is a Canadian playwright who lives on the Salish Sea at Sechelt, BC. Hunter was born in Indian Head, Saskatchewan and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan. Throughout her professional career, she lived in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Most of her plays were premiered by the Royal Manitoba Theatre Company. They have been performed in theatres across Canada, as well as in the U.S. and Britain. Transit of Venus was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and recorded by the BBC. An opera version of Transit of Venus premiered at Manitoba Opera in 2007. Her plays have been published by Scirocco Drama and Nuage Editions and are available through good bookstores and on Amazon. She is a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada.
Myrna Kostash is a Canadian writer and journalist. She has published several non-fiction books and written for many Canadian magazines including Chatelaine. Of Ukrainian descent, she was born in Edmonton, Alberta and educated at the University of Alberta, the University of Washington, and the University of Toronto. She resides in Edmonton, Alberta.
Canada's contemporary theatre reflects a rich diversity of regional and cultural identities. Since the late 1960s, there has been a concerted effort to develop the voice of the 'Canadian playwright', which is reflected in the nationally focused programming of many of the country's theatres. Within this 'Canadian voice' are a plurality of perspectives - that of the First Nations, new immigrants, French Canadians, sexual minorities, etc. - and a multitude of theatre companies have been created to specifically service and support these voices.
Brad Fraser is a Canadian playwright. He is one of the most widely produced Canadian playwrights both in Canada and internationally. His plays typically feature a harsh yet comical view of contemporary life in Canada, including frank depictions of sexuality, drug use and violence.
Justin Fleming is an Australian playwright, librettist and author. He has written for theatre, music theatre, opera, television and cinema and his works have been produced and published in Australia, the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Poland and France. Fleming has been a barrister and vice president of the Australian Writers' Guild and a board member of the Australian National Playwrights' Centre. He is a member of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, Dublin.
Shakespeare's Will is a play by Canadian writer Vern Thiessen. It was commissioned by Geoffrey Brumlik, then Artistic Director of the River City Shakespeare Festival in Edmonton as a performance vehicle for Jan Alexandra Smith and premiered at the Citadel Theatre in February 2005. It has been regularly revived and was performed at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 2011. Shakespeare's Will was published in 2002 by Playwrights Canada Press.
Frank Moher is a Canadian playwright, director, and journalist.
Gwen Pharis Ringwood was a Canadian playwright.
Einstein's Gift is a 2003 play written by Canadian playwright Vern Thiessen and published in 2003 by Playwrights Canada Press. Through the recollections of Albert Einstein, the play focuses on the life and career of German chemist Dr. Fritz Haber, who helped improve living conditions with his work on nitrogen fixation. His work was later used by the German army to produce the chlorine gas used in the Second Battle of Ypres in the First World War. As Dr. Haber becomes increasingly involved with the German army, the play depicts how his actions and newly forged military connections affect his relationship with his wife, Clara, and his assistant, Otto. As his passion for science intertwines with nationalistic pride, Haber manifests himself as a scientist devoted to a country that never accepted his Jewish origin.
The Writers' Guild of Alberta (WGA) was founded in 1980 as a non-profit organization for writers based in Alberta, Canada. It claims to be the largest provincial writers' organization in Canada, representing approximately 1,000 writers throughout the province.
The Carol Bolt Award is an annual Canadian literary award. Presented by the Playwrights Guild of Canada, the award is bestowed for a theatrical play premiere by a PGC member, judged to be the year's best. The award is named in memory of Canadian playwright, Carol Bolt.
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 at 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 is an alumnus of Toronto’s The Second City and 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.
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Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) (1961) is a Canadian playwright, director, actor, and educator based out of Saskatchewan, Canada. She was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She has contributed significantly to the creation and performance of Indigenous theatre in Canada.
James MacDonald is a Canadian theatre director, actor, and the artistic director of Western Canada Theatre. He was the first artistic director of Edmonton's FreeWill Shakespeare Festival(1997-2001). From 2006-2016, he was the associate artistic director of the Citadel Theatre.
Howard Pechet is a Canadian hotelier and producer. Pechet graduated from Washington State University with a Master of Arts degree. He is non-executive producer of Stage West and chairman of Stagewest Hospitality, which includes several hotels, dinner theatres and casinos. Pechet started Stage West in Edmonton, Alberta. He expanded this to Calgary and Winnipeg and then to the Toronto region, with the Mississauga theatre on Dixie Road, which opened in 1986. The first show in Mississauga was a small-scale comedy, Social Security by Andrew Bergman. Pechet has produced almost 1,000 plays and has co-written 14 musical revues.
Theatre Projects Manitoba (TPM) is a professional theatre company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was founded in 1990 by playwright Harry Rintoul in response to the perceived need for a strong local professional company to provide opportunities for Manitoban artists and to put local stories on the stage. With close ties to the Manitoba Association of Playwrights (MAP) and a passionate faith in this region’s playwrights, TPM was established as the only professional company dedicated to producing the works of Manitoba playwrights. Since its creation TPM has produced more than 50 new Manitoba works, as well as presenting new work from across the country. Theatre Projects Manitoba is a member of PACT, the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.
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