Ned Dickens
| Ned Dickens | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1959 British Columbia |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Playwright |
| Years active | 1994 — present |
| Notable work | City of Wine series |
Ned Dickens (born 1959 in British Columbia) is a Canadian playwright. He authored 16 plays,[1] including the City of Wine series, a seven-play cycle which tells "the story of the Greek city of Thebes – best known as the home of Oedipus."[2]
Life
Dickens was born in 1959[3] in British Columbia and raised in Ontario.[4] His father was a teacher who taught in boarding schools.[4]
For 10 years, he worked in architecture.[1] He was the director for the Kids and Youth Theatre and Employment Skills program in Toronto, using theatre as a training tool for street youth.[1] Dickens also donated two vehicles to development projects in Nicaragua and taught special education.[5]
Dickens lives in Kingston and has two children.[4]
Playwriting career
In 1994, Dickens turned to playwriting from acting when he developed advanced glaucoma.[4] He was commissioned by Toronto's Die in Debt company to write a new version of Seneca's Oedipus.[6] After writing the piece and winning a Dora Award, Dickens wanted to further explore the story of Jocasta, Oedipus's mother. He then became fascinated by "the aftermath of Oedipus's downfall."[4] After six years, Dickens had expanded Oedipus to become a trilogy and decided to "dramatize the entire history of Thebes."[4] In total, the series took 15 years to write.[7] To support himself during this time, Dickens taught public speaking to politicians and worked in construction, injuring his hand in an accident.[7]
In May 2009, Dickens's seven-play cycle, City of Wine, debuted at Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille.[8] The play involved 233 student actors, 172 professional actors, and 110 theatre artists[8] and was produced by Nightswimming, an independent theatre company.[7] In its entirety, the play's running time is 12 hours. Robert Kushman, in the National Post, described it as a "dizzyingly ambitious feat of producing and a dizzying achievement."[8]
References
- 1 2 3 "Kingston Life". www.kingstonlife.ca. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
- ↑ Parallelus. "City of Wine :: Nightswimming Theatre". nightswimmingtheatre.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
- ↑ "Ned Dickens - Presentation and Communication Services". Ned Dickens. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "A playwright's marathon in ancient Greece". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
- ↑ "Orca Book Publishers: Ned Dickens". www.orcabook.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
- ↑ Parallelus. "City of Wine :: Nightswimming Theatre". nightswimmingtheatre.com. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
- 1 2 3 "Living with Oedipus for 15 years - Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
- 1 2 3 nurun.com. "'A wonderful blend of stage production and rock...". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved 2016-05-06.