Famous Playwrights from Canada

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Updated June 15, 2019 124 items

List of notable or famous playwrights from Canada, with bios and photos, including the top playwrights born in Canada and even some popular playwrights who immigrated to Canada. If you're trying to find out the names of famous Canadian playwrights then this list is the perfect resource for you. These playwrights are among the most prominent in their field, and information about each well-known playwright from Canada is included when available.

List features people like J. Timothy Hunt, Morris Panych and more!

This historic playwrights from Canada list can help answer the questions "Who are some Canadian playwrights of note?" and "Who are the most famous playwrights from Canada?" These prominent playwrights of Canada may or may not be currently alive, but what they all have in common is that they're all respected Canadian playwrights.

Use this list of renowned Canadian playwrights to discover some new playwrights that you aren't familiar with. Don't forget to share this list by clicking one of the social media icons at the top or bottom of the page. {#nodes}
  • Walter Learning

    Walter Learning

    Age: 86
    Walter John Learning is a Canadian theatre director, actor, and founder of Theatre New Brunswick.
    • Birthplace: St. John's, Canada
  • Wendy Lill
    Age: 74
    Wendy Lill (born November 2, 1950) is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and radio dramatist who served as an NDP Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2004. Her stage plays have been performed extensively in theatres across Canada as well as internationally in such countries as Scotland, Denmark and Germany. Many of the plays explore the divide between the powerful and the oppressed, exploring, for example, the racism and abuse suffered by Canada's indigenous peoples, the plight of the handicapped, child sexual abuse and the struggle for women's rights. Four of her plays were nominated for Governor General's Awards. Sisters, which dramatizes the human devastation caused by a convent-run, native residential school, received the Labatt's Canadian Play Award at the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Festival. Lill's adaptation of Sisters for television earned her a Gemini Award in 1992.Before writing her first produced play, On the Line, based on a strike by female garment workers in Manitoba, Lill worked as a journalist, documentary-maker and dramatist for CBC Radio in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Among other things, she covered a paper mill strike in Kenora, Ontario and produced documentaries for Our Native Land, a national, weekly program about Canada's indigenous peoples. Her documentary Who is George Forest? and her radio drama Shorthanded won ACTRA Awards in 1981. Her screenplay Ikwe, about Métis women, was part of a National Film Board series which received a Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Film Festival in 1986.During her seven years as a Member of Parliament, Lill served as her party's culture and communications critic as well as its advocate for human rights, children and youth, and people living with disabilities. She was a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage where she contributed to the recommendations that resulted from three major studies: the federal government's role in supporting arts and culture; the state of the Canadian book publishing industry in an era of big-box retailers and declining independent bookstores; and, the importance of public and private broadcasting in protecting Canada's cultural sovereignty.
    • Birthplace: Vancouver, Canada
  • Willard Mack
    Dec. at 61 (1873-1934)
    Willard Mack (September 18, 1873 – November 18, 1934) was a Canadian-born actor, director, and playwright.
    • Birthplace: South Dundas, Ontario, Canada
  • William Fruet

    William Fruet

    Age: 92
    William Fruet (born January 1, 1933) is a Canadian film and television director, playwright and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with the drama Wedding in White (1972), based on a play he had also written. The film won Best Picture at the Canadian Film Awards in 1973. His later career included several horror films, including Death Weekend (1972), Cries in the Night (1980), and Killer Party (1986), as well as television series, including Goosebumps and Poltergeist: The Legacy. Other writing credits include the influential Canadian film Goin' Down the Road, which he co-wrote with Donald Shebib,
    • Birthplace: Lethbridge, Canada