Canadian Plays by Playwright:
P
Welcome to the Canadian Plays section where you will find plays published
in English from across Canada and plays in translation from
French Canada. Plays
are listed by playwright, by last name.
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Canadian Anthologies
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engine and enter the title of the work you are interested in.
 Gordon
Morris Panych
Gordon was always an odd little child, given his penchant for setting the neighbours’ sheds on fire with their pets locked inside, and his fascination with the funeral rituals at the church across the way. As the steel mill shuts down and everyone in town moves away, Gordon’s father urges him to attend an institution of higher learning. Gordon’s vocabulary grows by leaps and bounds, as do his natural gifts for sociopathic rhetoric, fatuous rationalization and reductive logic. Upon graduation, Gordon sets out to build an innovative business with his former cellmate Carl. This ambition is not without its bloody-handed transactions and awkward issues about where to file the evidence. Softcover, 128 pages.$17.95.
 The Trespassers
Morris Panych
Fifteen-year-old Lowell is no average teenager, and his grandfather, Hardy, is no conventional role model. Whether urging the boy to pilfer peaches from an orchard, arranging for his sexual initiation, or teaching him the importance of gambling, Hardy is the despair of Lowell's born-again mother, Cash. Buth how far into forbidden territory has Lowell actually ventured. m3, f2. Softcover, 95 pp. $16.99.
 Still Laughing: Three Adaptations by Morris Panych
Morris Panych
The universal mark of good satire is still to make audiences laugh at the worst traits in human nature. Here, in his own words, is how Morris Panych updated these three great comedy classics from a century ago: The Government Inspector, Hotel Peccadillo, and The Amorous Adventures of Anatol. Softcover, 319 pp. $29.95.
 The Dishwashers
Morris Panych
Of all our comtemporary urban myths none is more absurd than the fiction of the "classless
society," and Morris Panych's latest comedy penetrates ruthlessly to the
shock and horror of the residue of hardened pesto soiling its heart.
Haplessly determined to have his own miserable authority vindicated,
chief dishwasher Dressler presides over the steam-choked basement of an
upscale restaurant, a place of seamless drudgery so utterly remote from
the light of day that its wage-slaves have no contact with anyone outside.
Spouting an indiscriminate cornucopia of working-class ethic, an interminable
babble of pride of craft, Marxist rhetoric and the virtues of individual
entrepreneurship as celebrated by Ayn Rand, Dressler tyrannizes his co-workers
relentlessly.
Unfortunately, both the "old hand" Moss and the "new guy" Emmett
fail utterly to see things his way stubbornly and inexplicably pursue
both their rejection of and aspiration to join "the folks upstairs." Softcover,
127 pp. $16.95.
 The Ends Of The Earth
Morris Panych
Frank, having dedicated his life to the unremarkable, and Walker, paranoid since
being struck by lightning at age three, attempt to flee from each other and end
up following each other instead. They find themselves in a run-down hotel operated
by a deaf and misdirected Willy and blind Alice, who has a murderous dislike
for visitors. Winner of the 1994 Governor General's Award for Drama. Softcover,
140 pp. $17.95.
 7 Stories
Morris Panych
In this fast-paced, sophisticated and hilarious play, a man contemplating suicide
on a seventh-story building ledge confronts the stories of the people who live
inside the building. These "seven stories" lead to a charming and
suprising ending.
7 Stories was the winner of six Jessie Awards in 1990, including awards for Outstanding
Original Play; Production of a Play; Set Design; Lighting Design; Soundscape;
and best supporting actress. Softcover, 101 pp. $16.95.
 Vigil
Morris Panych
This brilliant black comedy is structured around what happens when an
extremely self-centred and shallow person finds himself, through his
own errors and inattentiveness, in a life and death situation with profound
and far reaching consequences. A play of twisted circumstance, mistaken
identity and surprising turns, it is deliciously absurd, incredibly funny
adn poignantly tender.
M-1, F-1. 77 pp. $15.95.
 Girl in the Goldfish Bowl
Morris Panych
The death of 10-year-old Iris's goldfish signals, for her, the
end of her childhood. Now there only remains a few more days of life
in a universe that is inherently ordered, where the spirit of the
dead goldfish can, of course, be re-incarnated in a lost and amnesiac
drifter given to rhetorical questions of seemingly deep philosophical
import. Winner of five 2003 Dora Awards. M-2, F-3. Softcover, 127
pp. $16.95.
 Other Schools of Thought
Morris Panych
Other Schools of Thought is a collection of three unique plays
that allow adult audiences to reflect on their past, and young audiences to reflect
on their future.
With stark sets and minimalist presentational styles, they leave no room for
condescension--for neither the patronization of the young by their elders, nor
the dismissal of "adult concerns" by the young. In their treatment
of sexuality, substance abuse, AIDS and indentity crises, these plays open up
the common ground between young adults and old children, mapping the personal
uncertainties unleashed by everyone's contemplation of life's "big questions." Softcover,
125 pp. $17.95.
 Lawrence & Holloman
Morris Panych
This is a universe in which Camus meets Dali, where Goya meets Disney, where
gunshots and bathtub drownings, disillusion and dismemberment become
the Seventh Seal of the Grey Flannel set.
M-2. 127 pp. $16.95.
 Earshot
Morris Panych
Doyle has a very funny problem: he hears too much -- he can hear
the most intimate details of the lives of everyone living in his
apartment building. He blames his condition on a physical abnormality, but
we're not sure. Paralysing Doyle with a cacophony of detail and minutiae, Earshot is
a Rear Window for the ears. M-1 64 pp. $15.95.
 Head: The Musical
Debbie Patterson
The story of Anne Boleyn has haunted women for centuries; as the second wife of King Henry VIII she was executed after failing to produce a male heir. Debbie Patterson's new take on this story becomes an examination of sex, death and faith. Head follows Anne through the loss of her husband's affection to her date with the Swordsman of Calais. Softcover, 110 pp. $14.95.
 Metastasis and Other Plays
Gordon Pengilly
In this collection of award-winning plays, Gordon Pengilly highlights the core of human tragedy, paranoia, and violence. With a mix of dark humour and palpable desperation, Pengilly creates striking characters who, while essentially good, are unable to cope with their circumstances and commit reckless acts as a result. Included are Seeing in the Dark, Drumheller or Dangerous Times, and Metastasis. Softcover, 200 pp. $19.95.
 Therac 25
Adam Pettle
Alan and Moira are young, and they are falling in love . . . in the corridors of
the Princess Margaret Hospital, where they are both undergoing cancer treatment.
Humorous and moving, Therac 25. is a love story unlike any other -- a play you won't
easily forget. M-1, F-1. 46 pp. $12.95.
 Zadie's Shoes
Adam Pettle
Benjamin is a complsive gambler who's just lost the money for his girlfriend's trip
to an alternative cancer clinic in Mexico. He has 72 hours to find the cash, and
his options are running out. A hilarious and touching journey that contemplates the
nature of luck, and the power of faith. M-4, F-3. 111 pp. $14.95.
 Coups and Calypsos
M. Nourbese Philip
A military coup sweeps across the twin island state of Trinidad and
Tobago. Elvira, a doctor, and Rohan, an English professor, now separated after
a stormy marriage, are confined to a beach house together during
a curfew. Their relationship has foundered on issues of race, identity
and politics. The radio informs the beach house of the dangers of
the insurrection outside. Can Elvira and Rohan survive their own
emotional war? 140 pp. $16.95.
 The Emergency Monologues
Morgan Jones Phillips
These tales chronicle the bizarre, ridiculous, and irksome side of being a paramedic in an unidentified urban city. Morgan Jones Phillips, who himself works as a paramedic, performed The Emergency Monologues at the 2008 SummerWorks theatre festival, where it won the NOW Audience Choice Award. Softcover, $22.50.
 Easy: Lenny Lazmon and The Great Western Ascension
Anton Piatigorsky
Two exiled travellers head west on an abandoned desert road, searching for the promised
land. Encountering a lonely old rancher and his strangely scarred wife, they glimpse
the dreams and dangers of their quest. A mystical journey exploring the mythology
of western expansion, Jewish history and ancient religious traditions. M-2, F-2.
80 pp. $13.95.
 Two Plays: The Offering & The Kabbalistic Psychoanalysis
Anton Piatigorsky
The Offering unfolds in a trio of episodes, following four generations of
a single family as it struggles towards an ambiguous triumph. M-3 The Kabbalistic
Psychoanalysis chronicles the psychoanalysis of Adam Tzaddik as he and his doctor
uncover the root of Adam's denials and desires. M-2 133 pp. $15.95.
Back to top |
Beatdown: Three Plays by Joseph Jomo Pierre
Jim & Shorty
Yahrzeit
This Hotel
Sharon Pollock: Collected Works Volume 1
Sharon Pollock Collected Works
Blood Relations and Other Plays
Fair Liberty's Call
Walsh
Shadows on Oak Island
Encore
