doollee banner
The Playwrights Database
contact doollee


Maureen Hunter

MAUREEN HUNTER

  (1947 - )
Nationality:    Canadian
facebook     twitter     email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Charles Northcote charlesnorthcote7@gmail.com

Saskatchewan-born, Winnipeg-based Maureen Hunter (dob - 28-Sep-47) is one of Canada's most accomplished playwrights. Her work has been produced extensively on Canada's major stages, as well as in Britain and the U.S. and by CBC and BBC Radio. It has been nominated for two Governor General's Awards, two Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Outstanding New Play) and the Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre. Sarah Ballenden, Hunter's latest play, premiered at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg in April 2017. Other plays include Wild Mouth, premiered by Tarragon Theatre, Toronto, in 2008; Vinci, premiered by the National Arts Centre, Ottawa, in co-production with RMTC in 2002; Atlantis, premiered in English by RMTC in co-production with Theatre Calgary in 1996 and in French by Theatre de la Manufacture, Montreal, in 1999; Transit of Venus, which premiered at RMTC in 1992 and was given its British premiere by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1993, its U.S. premiere by the Berkshire Theatre in Stockbridge, Mass., in 1998 and its opera premiere (for which Hunter wrote the libretto) at Manitoba Opera in 2007; and Footprints on the Moon, which premiered at Agassiz Theatre, Winnipeg, in 1988 and received its European premiere at the Finborough Theatre in London, England, in 2017. Hunter's plays have been published individually and in a number of anthologies.

Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.
AbeBooks.co.uk   AbeBooks.com   Stageplays.com   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.ca
whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.
download WORD submission template

below is a list of Maureen Hunter's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Atlantis         Beautiful Lake Winnipeg         Footprints On the Moon         I Met A Bully On the Hill         Poor Uncle Ernie In His Covered Cage         Queen Of Queen Street, The         Sarah Ballenden         Transit Of Venus         Vinci         Wild Mouth

Atlantis

Atlantis
A passionate encounter on the Greek island of Santorini illuminates this play. Ben is a Canadian in his fifties who has taken refuge on the sunny isle, thought to be the legendary Atlantis. There he encounters Mircea, a mystical local woman and, in the words of Kevin Prokosh, theatre critic for the Winnipeg Fee Press, their insuring love affair provides "a badly needed hot spot for the soul." A finalist for the Governor General's Award and the Dora Mavor Moore award for Outstanding New Play, Atlantis has been translated into French and Greek.

Notes:
Finalist for the Governor General's Award for Drama.

1st Produced:
Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg, and Theatre Calgary, co-production     Feb 1996

Organisations:
co-production with Theatre Calgary

1st Published:
Scirocco Drama 1997   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Beautiful Lake Winnipeg

Beautiful Lake Winnipeg
A young man accompanies his fiancee to her lakeside cabin, only to find her ex-husband waiting for them. A riveting tale about adults who play dangerous games. Beautiful Lake Winnipeg has been translated into French.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Manitoba Theatre Centre at the Warehouse     Nov 1990

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Scirocco Drama 1990   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Black comedy

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Footprints On the Moon

Footprints On the Moon
When Joanie attempts to prevent her teenage daughter from leaving home, their ensuing struggle forces her to learn to embrace the loves and losses that have shaped her life. Footpints on the Moon was a finalist for the Governor General's Award and won the Labatt Award for Best Canadian Play.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Agassiz Productions, Winnipeg     Jan 1988

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Blizzard Publishing Ltd; 2nd edition (1 Jan. 1988)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

I Met A Bully On the Hill

I Met A Bully On the Hill
J.J., a young girl from the country, runs into more than she can handle when she encounters Raymond, a bully who takes out his frustrations and fears on her. With the help of new friends, David, an imaginative youngster with ambitions to be the next Wynton Marsalis, and Karla, a physically powerful ally with a soft heart, J.J. is able to confront both her fears and Raymond's attacks and solve her problems.

Notes:
written by Brooks, Martha And Hunter, Maureen

1st Produced:
Prairie Theatre Exchange, Winnipeg     08 Jun 1905

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
J Gordon Shillingford Pub Inc (1 Mar. 1995)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Poor Uncle Ernie In His Covered Cage

Synopsis:
Set on a farm on the prairies, Poor Uncle Ernie centers on Carl, a man who has sacrificed everything for the sake of his family. When his mother dies, his stay-at-home sister Rheba becomes unhinged and his run-away sister Mattea returns for the funeral. These events force Carl to confront the cost of the choices he has made throughout his life.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Agassiz Productions, Winnipeg     Apr 1986

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
https://www.playwrightsguild.ca/play/poor-uncle-ernie-his-covered-cage   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Queen Of Queen Street, The

Queen Of Queen Street, The
Bertha Rand, Winnipeg's "Cat Lady", was a familiar figure in the news; many knew her as the mad woman who lived in squalor with over fifty felines. In her tiny house on Queen Street, Bertha took in sick and abandoned cats, battling her neighbours and city hall to save them, taking her cause to the media. The Queen of Queen Street delves into Bertha's past, a tragic life always lived on the margins, and explores the power of one woman's will to survive.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Agassiz Theatre, Winnipeg     11 Jun 1905

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Signature Editions (1997)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Sarah Ballenden

Sarah Ballenden
Sarah Ballenden is set in the Red River Settlement (early Winnipeg) in 1850. It is based on the true story of a Metis woman who goes to court to clear her name after she is accused of adultery by English newcomers. Her trial, one of the most famous in Manitoba history, split the community and established a pattern of injustice towards Indigenous people that haunts Canada to this day.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg     Apr 2017

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Scirocco Drama (1 Oct. 2017)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical drama

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  with doubling

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Transit Of Venus

Transit Of Venus
Transit of Venus is set in France in the 18th century, a time when society was rapidly expanding its knowledge of the earth and the cosmos. This powerful drama about an ambitious astronomer and the women who love him examines the conflicting needs of men and women and the price that can be paid by those who pursue their most cherished dreams. Transit of Venus was nominated for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play in 1995.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Scirocco Drama 1992   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Vinci

Vinci
Set in an Italian village in the fifteenth century, Vinci revolves around the struggle for custody of a gifted child, a "golden boy", Leonardo da Vinci. Padre Bartolomeo, a friend of the da Vinci family, finds himself caught between the powerful da Vincis and Leonardo's defiant unwed mother, the servant Caterina. In his efforts to mediate the dispute and determine the future of Caterina's exceptional child, Bartolomeo comes to a new understanding of the nature of forgiveness and love. Vinci was a Manitoba Book of the Year finalist.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
National Arts Centre, Ottawa, in co-production with Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg     1996

Organisations:
co-production with the National Arts Centre

1st Published:
Scirocco Drama (1 Feb. 2002)   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page

Wild Mouth

Wild Mouth
Wild Mouth centers on the passionate encounter between a grieving mother and a troubled soldier just back from France. Anna is a British-born immigrant who returns to her brother's prairie farm in 1917 to help with the harvest and to try to heal. There she meets Bohdan, a young man of Ukrainian descent who changed his name to Smith in order to get to the Front. Anna's desperation to understand her son's death propels both of them to the edge of an abyss. This play explores the enduring connection between love and war, beauty and horror, creation and destruction.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Taragon Theatre, Toronto     Jan 2008

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Scirocco Drama 2008   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Historical drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

Top of Page Top of Page