The Playwrights Database
RICHARD SANGER
(1960 - )Nationality: Canadian
email: Click here to contact Website: n/a
Literary Agent: Catalyst TCM Inc
Richard Sanger's plays include Not Spain and Two Words for Snow, both of which were shortlisted for the Governor-General's Awards, Canada's highest literary honour. He has also translated Lorca's the House of Bernarda Alba, Lope de Vega's classic Fuenteovejuna (in English verse) as well as poems from French, German and Spanish. His own poems have appeared in many publications and two collections Shadow Cabinet and Calling Home. He has written many essays and reviews, taught, and been writer-in-residence at various universities. He lives in Toronto.
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below is a list of Richard Sanger's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Fuente Ovejuna Not Spain Two Words For Snow Wild GrapesFuente Ovejuna
Synopsis:
A new verse translation of Lope de Vega's 1612 Spanish classic. Based on an actual peasant uprising that took place in 1476, it tells the story of an imperious military governor (and war hero) who tyrannizes a small village called Fuenteovejuna, demanding a right to all the women, married and not, until the village, led by one headstrong peasant girl (who claims she has no time for love), finally rebels and lynches him. these Dramatic events are complemented by a charming pastoral love story (guess who falls in love), and the courtly intrigue surrounding the succession of Ferdinand and Isabel to the crown of Castile.
Notes:
This translation differs from the other modern English versions in that it follows the metre of the original (four stress, octosyllabic lines) And maintains Lope's rhyming schemes (while frequently using half-rhymes "still/well" And Assonance "proud/about"). This means this translation is more playable (it moves A lot faster), more polished (it rhymes) And ultimately truer to the spirit of the original. I have Also not hesitated to streamline the original where necessary.
1st Produced:
Ryerson Theatre, Toronto
2006
Organisations:
Ryerson Theatre
1st Published:
Broadview Press, 2003
Music:
-
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Genre:
Verse Drama Translation
Parts:
Male: 16 Female: 4 Other: doubling possible
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageNot Spain
Synopsis:
Sophie, a freelance journalist meets Andrei in a war torn city
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
Toronto
1996
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
(PLCN) Playwrights Canada Press,
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:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageTwo Words For Snow
Synopsis:
New York, 1935. An old man sits brooding in the Eskimo Room of the American Museum of Natural History. He's black and, all around him, there are dropcloths, which are white, covering up strange shapes. A young man, white, arrives: He's looking for someone called Henson. Who? the old man gives a cold laugh. So begins this play about love, betrayal, and the ambitions of the various men (and one Inuit woman) involved in Robert Peary's 1909 North Pole expedition.
Notes:
This play is based on historical fact. Peary was Accompanied by A black man named Matthew Henson on his polar expeditions, including his Allegedly successful final 1909 trek; Henson learnt to speak Inuktitut And served As Peary's interpreter on those expeditions; both men fathered children with Inuit women; Peary brought back six Inuit to be put on display At the American Museum of Natural History; when four of them fell ill And eventually died, Henson served As An interpreter for the museum's director, the influential Anthropologist, Franz Boas, whose 1911 book, the Handbook of North American Indian Languages, first speculated on the number of Inuit words for snow. these facts And others, And my characters' names Are All historical; my play is A work of the imagination.
1st Produced:
Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary
1999
Organisations:
Alberta Theatre Projects
1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada
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:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 5 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageWild Grapes
Synopsis:
Four middle-aged women drink tea in Niagara-on-the-Lake; the tea isn't what they think it is. they dream, fight, and aren't quite themselves. "A wild romp through the dreams and tea parties of four women, the last remaining members of a chapter of the I.O.D.E. . .. Poetic, imagistic and extremely funny." - theatrum
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
-
1998
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Playwrights Guild of Canada
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:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: - Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
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