Queer Canadian Theatre and Performance ― New Essays on Canadian Theatre

This collection seeks to understand why it is important not just to continue to tell queer stories on stage, but also to piece together the larger historical narrative of Canadian queer theatrical production and reception through academic research. Contributors include Kym Bird, Sky Gilbert, Moynan King, Evalyn Parry, Richie Wilcox, Jay Whitehead, Tony Berto, Eury Chang, Cameron Crookston, Spy Dénommé-Welch, Dirk Gindt, Stephen Low, Sean Metzger, Cordula Quint, Trish Salah, Sarah Garton Stanley, and Laine Zisman Newman. Through their essays, artist reflections, and curatorial statements, they generate theory and new ways of understanding how queer theatre and performance have contributed more broadly to the political and social development of LGBT2Q communities in Canada.

Peter Dickinson is a professor at Simon Fraser University, where he holds a joint appointment in the School for the Contemporary Arts and the Department of English. He is also Director of SFU’s Institute for Performance Studies and Associate Member of the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. A long-time board member and Past President of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Peter blogs regularly about Vancouver performance.

Born, raised, and based in Vancouver, Filipino-Canadian author C.E. Gatchalian writes drama, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. His plays, which include Broken, Crossing, Claire, and Motifs & Repetitions, have appeared on stages nationally and internationally, as well as on radio and television. His latest play, Falling in Time, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. He is the 2013 recipient of the prestigious Dayne Ogilvie Prize, awarded annually by The Writers’ Trust of Canada to an LGBT writer of merit.

Kathleen Oliver currently teaches English at Langara College and has been writing theatre reviews for the Georgia Straight for twenty years.

Dalbir Singh is the associate editor of alt.theatre magazine and has published work in such journals and anthologies as Canadian Theatre Review, Critical Perspectives on Canadian Theatre in English, Red Light, and She Speaks. His plays have been performed at the Harbourfront Centre, Factory Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and on CBC Radio. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in theatre at the University of Toronto.