The Playwrights Database
MORRIS PANYCH
(1952 - )Nationality: Canadian
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Literary Agent: Gary Goddard Agency Ltd
Playwright, actor and director Morris Panych has been described as a man for all seasons in Canadian Theatre. He has appeared in over fifty Theatre productions and in numerous television and film roles. He has directed over thirty Theatre productions and written over a dozen plays that have been translated and produced throughout the world. He has twice won the Governor Generals Award and has won the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award fourteen times for acting and directing. He has also been nominated six times for Torontos Dora Mavor Moore Award and three times for the Chalmers Award. the 2009 Off-Broadway production of his play Vigil opened to rave reviews. Under the title Auntie & Me, Vigil was also produced in London in 200304; and in French at theatre La Bruyere in Paris in 2005; and his classic 7 Stories ranks 9th among the ten best selling plays in Canada, outselling the Coles version of Romeo & Juliet.
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below is a list of Morris Panych's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
2 B WUT U R 7 Stories Amorous Adventures of Anatol, The Auntie And Me Benevolence Cost Of Living, The Dishwashers, The Earshot Ends Of the Earth, The Girl in the Goldfish Bowl Gordon Government Inspector, The Hotel Peccadillo In Absentia Last Call Lawrence & Holloman Life Science Moby Dick Necessary Steps, The Other Schools of Thought Overcoat, The Seven Stories Still Laughing Story Of A Sinking Man, The Trespassers, The Vigil Wanderlust What Lies Before Us2 B WUT U R
Synopsis:
Two High School seniors searching for themselves
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
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1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
TYA
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of Page7 Stories
A man teeters on the ledge of an apartment building, seven floors up, contemplating suicide. Before he can take the final leap he is confronted by the stories of the manically eccentric residents inside. the two lovers who constantly threaten to murder one another, the actor on his wedding day who plans to stay in character for the rest of his life, and the lady who keeps her own faith by answering the prayers of residents on the sixth floor. After hearing these 'seven stories' it looks like all the insanity is inside, and that the suicidal man is the least likely to jump.
- press release
- press release
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
Rocketship Productions
1st Published:
Talon Books, Vancouver, BC, 978-0889222816
Music:
-
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PageAmorous Adventures of Anatol, The
In changing Schnitzlers The Amorous Adventures of Anatol from a 1902 Austrian play to a 2007 Canadian one, the most important decision I made was to have all the female characters played by one actress. Because of this, the audience becomes complicit in a casting trick: knowing that for Anatol, all women are the same. While its a truism that much as people appear to change throughout history, their essential human nature does not, in this play Anatol becomes the only victim of our elaborate theatrical illusion.
Notes:
Original Playwright - Arthur Schnitzler. The universal mark of good satire is still to make audiences laugh at the worst traits in human nature. Here, in his own words, is how Morris Panych updated these three great comedy classics from a century ago:
1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in "Still Laughing", Talon Books,Canada (15 Oct 2009) 978-0889226241
Music:
-
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Genre:
translation
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageAuntie And Me
A nephew visits his dying aunt - but she's not going just yet.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh 2002
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Hushion House 978-0413773234
Music:
-
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Genre:
Black Comedy Comedy
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PageBenevolence
Oswald is a shoe salesman - but at night he writes screenplays. For two years a tramp has lived on the street near where he works. On imPulse one day Oswald gives the tramp $100
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Tarragon Theatre Mainspace, Toronto 18 Sep 2007
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talon Books 978-0889225848
Music:
-
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Genre:
Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageCost Of Living, The
Synopsis:
the trials and tribulations of being a teenage boy
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageDishwashers, The
Dressler scrambles to keep the basement scullery of an upscale eatery functioning, marshaling his rag-tag team with a stream of hilarious rhetoric and old-fashioned working class pride. His fellow wage slaves, the ancient Moss and the downwardly mobile Emmett, just can't seem to grasp his inspirational style. Playwright Morris Panych walks a razor's edge between comedy and tragedy chronicling the plight of men working in the lower depths of a high end restaurant
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Tarragon Theatre Mainspace, Toronto -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talonbooks, 2005 978-0889225244
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PageEarshot
Doyle has super sensitive hearing. He can hear all the conversations that go on in his building
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talonbooks (February 15, 2000) 978-0889224445
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageEnds Of the Earth, The
An absurd comedy, tragedy, and mystery, Morris Panych's tale of mirrored paranoia demonstrates how fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Frank Gardener, a garden columnist, and Henry Walker, a man with a lifetime of bad luck, are determined to confirm their suspicions that the other is out to get him. In their attempt to flee their projected doom, tye journey to a hotel at the end of the earth where they ultimately collide with what they are escaping--each other. From a drug-dabbling truck driver to a gun-toting aspring actres and a gypsy psychic, Frank and Walker encounter a variety of characters of their journey, all the while being tracked by a suspicious detective, set on unearthing the truth behind the pair's twisted tale
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Sanford Meisner Theatre, NY 2006
Organisations:
VariantTheatreCompany and JJL Productions
1st Published:
Talon Books, Vancouver, BC, 978-0889223349
Music:
-
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageGirl in the Goldfish Bowl
Ten Year old Iris has a bad feeling about things. the Cuban missile crisis is at its height, her parent's marriage is floundering and her goldfish has just died. So when she finds a mysterious man on the beach, she regards him as a godsend- a creature sent through time and space from some distent dimension to set all things to rights.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Canada Stage in Vancouver 2002
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talon Books, Vancouver, BC, 978-0889224810
Music:
-
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PageGordon
A Father attempts to stop his son becoming a career criminal
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talon Books 2011 978-0889226647
Music:
-
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Genre:
One act
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageGovernment Inspector, The
The Government Inspector is peopled with the most duplicitous, under-handed, and shifty characters ever to appear in literature; yet, they are funny. I made the lead character Khlestakov and his companion Osip former members of an acting troupe, to open up the fourth wall of the theatre. Inspired by Gogol himself, who has the characters speak to the audience directly in the last scene, this is not really a post-modern indulgence, but part of a long theatrical tradition of direct audience address.
Notes:
Original Playwright - Nikolai Gogol. The universal mark of good satire is still to make audiences laugh at the worst traits in human nature. Here, in his own words, is how Morris Panych updated these three great comedy classics from a century ago:
1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in "Still Laughing", Talon Books,Canada (15 Oct 2009) 978-0889226241
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
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Genre:
translation
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageHotel Peccadillo
There are certain literary subjects that hardly change over time; sex isnt one of them. Take Viagra and cosmetic surgery, for example. These are fertile subjects for absurd comedy particular to our time. With Hotel Peccadillo, I wanted to play up, but also comment on the notion of hypocrisy as it relates to in?delitythe play was written a hundred years ago, without the hind-sight of Feydeaus own death from syphilis. To that end, I made the author the landlord of his bordelloto include him in the farce, to heighten the irony.
Notes:
Original Playwrights - Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallieres. The universal mark of good satire is still to make audiences laugh at the worst traits in human nature. Here, in his own words, is how Morris Panych updated these three great comedy classics from a century ago:
1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
in "Still Laughing", Talon Books,Canada (15 Oct 2009) 978-0889226241
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
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Genre:
translation
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageIn Absentia
Four seasons after her husband Toms disappearance, Colette remains emotionally paralyzed, isolated in a country cottage. She waits in anguish, not knowing whether he is dead or alive, but clinging to hope. A young stranger in a jean jacket waves to her from the frozen lake a sign? She emerges to give him her husbands parka strangely, the boy has a likeness to Tom. What is the strangers connection to her geologist husband, kidnapped more than a year before by leftist guerrillas in Colombia? How does this slyly seductive young stranger happen to show up at her home in rural Ontario, thousands of miles away? He seems to know more about Colette than he should, and as he slowly insinuates himself into her life, Colettes attentive sister, Evelyn, and her helpful neighbour Bill become increasingly alarmed. Part mystery, part moving story of vanished love, In Absentia explores the notion of disappearance, articulated in very personal terms. Through the tough, time-shifting action of the play, Colette reflects on her marriage and past love, offering rich associative memories while also uncovering the hidden and inaccessible that which is made to disappear from view. Guilt and grief, infidelity and infertility, loss and longing are the deeper subjects Panych explores here. At the same time, the play examines the desire to make connections in life thoughts to deeds, intentions to outcomes in scenes often enlivened by the playwrights trademark humour.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Centaur Theatre, Montreal 31 Jan 2012
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talonbooks (2012) >>> 978-0889227026
Music:
-
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Genre:
mystery story
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageLast Call
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto, -
Music:
-
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageLawrence & Holloman
Envy. Hatred. Revenge . . . just your average best friends How is it that some people can have so much going for them and other people not have anything going for them at all? That is the question the pathologically pessimistic Holloman has for his perennially optimistic colleague Lawrence, in this deliciously dark comedy by acclaimed Canadian playwright, Morris Panych. Lawrence and Holloman, two salesmen in a large department store, strike up an unlikely friendship. the men are polar opposites: Lawrence is confident, happy-go-lucky and extroverted; Holloman is timid and uptight. As the friendship grows, Lawrence's luck begins to turn. Strange accidents plague him. Why is this happening now? And just how much bad luck can one man survive? Funnier than Friends, blacker than the Office, Lawrence & Holloman is a wicked comedy about unlikely friendships and the hazards of wreaking revenge that will have you asking: is that what friends are for!?
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talon Books 978-0889223929
Music:
-
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Genre:
Comedy
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageLife Science
Synopsis:
A High School girl's reaction to the death of a homeless man
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto, -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Monologue play
Parts:
Male: - Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageMoby Dick
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
Based on the novel by Herman Melville
1st Produced:
Studio Theatre, Stratford, ON 22 Jul 2008
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Adaptation
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageNecessary Steps, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageOther Schools of Thought
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Notes:
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1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talon Books, Vancouver, BC, 978-088922346
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageOvercoat, The
Synopsis:
merges two Gogol stories about oppressed clerks, the Overcaot and Diary of a Madman. the threadbare anti hero at last posesses a fine new coat. When it's stolen he spirals into madness. the production is about the society that reduces him to a cipher. - Parry, Observer.
Notes:
created by Morris Panych & Wendy Gorling
1st Produced:
Canada Stage in Vancouver 2004
Organisations:
BITE: 04
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
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Genre:
non verbal musical Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: - Other: 21 others
Further Reference:
Top of PageSeven Stories
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Mermaid Studio, London 1995
Organisations:
Anecdote Theatre Company
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageStill Laughing
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
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
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Genre:
-
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageStory Of A Sinking Man, The
Synopsis:
-
Notes:
-
1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto, -
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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageTrespassers, The
Hardy has taken his fifteen year grandson Lowell under his wing. He has taught him how to steal and set him up for his first sexual encounter with the town prostitute. then the police arrive to investigate a murder
Notes:
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1st Produced:
- -
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talon Books 978-0889226289
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
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Genre:
Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageVigil
Vigil is about a man returningafter thirty yearsto sit with a female relative on her deathbed. Kemp, the protagonist, is an extremely self-centred and shallow person who uses acid wit and seemingly callous indifference to cover up the profound discomfort he experiences upon finding himself part of a death watch. Kemps problem is: shes not dying fast enough. Through Kemps own errors and inattentiveness, the visit that he thinks will take a day or two stretches into a year, and he finds himself caring for his long-forgotten aunt Grace against his will. Gallows humour and Kemps diatribes on humanity and mortality fuel this delightfully dark narrative, but it is Graces economical contributions to the dialogue (shes a woman of few words) that give this play its weight and profundity. A play of mistaken identity, twisted circumstance and surprising turns, it is deliciously absurd, incredibly funny and poignantly tender. This is one Vigil worth keeping.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Belfrey Theatre, Victoria, British Columbia 28 Sep 1995
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talonbooks >>> 978-0889223653
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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
Top of PageWanderlust
Synopsis:
The poet Robert Service works in banking and writes verse. He longs to go West to the gold fields and mine
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford, ON 20 Jun 2012
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
- -
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
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Genre:
Drama
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageWhat Lies Before Us
Late 1800s in the Canadian Rockies. Three men wait in a tent for their boss to arrive - but he is late and winter is setting in - they are low on supplies and have only one bullet left
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Berkeley Street Theatre, Toronto Jan 2007
Organisations:
-
1st Published:
Talon Books 2007 978-0889225602
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
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Genre:
Play/Drama
Parts:
Male: 3 Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of Page