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Jack Winter

JACK WINTER  (1936 - )

 Nationality:    Canadian
email:    n/a     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    Gary Goddard Agency Ltd  

Jack Winter has taught literature, modern theatre, and creative writing at several Canadian and British universities, including York University and Bristol University. From 1961 to 1967, he was resident playwright at George Luscombe's Toronto Workshop Productions, where he wrote seven stage plays. In a second tenure with TWP, he wrote five more. Winter has published five books of poetry as well as a literary memoir, The Tallis Bag (Oberon Press, 2012), and a second anthology of plays, Party Day and Other Plays (Starburst, forthcoming 2014). His poems, plays, fiction, and feature articles have been published internationally in magazines and newspapers, including Performing Arts in Canada, Theatre Research in Canada, The Guardian, Canadian Theatre Review, and Canadian Literature. His many literary awards include the Toronto Telegram Theatre Award for Best New Canadian Play, the Canadian Film Award for Best Documentary Film, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject.

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

         And they'll Make Peace         Before Compiegne         Caboose To Moose Jaw         Centre, The         Death of Woyzeck, The         Family Matters         Golem of Venice, The         Golovlovo         Happy Birthday, Death!         Hey Rube!         Letters from the Earth         Mask Of the Bear         Mechanic, The         Mr Pickwick         Party Day         Ravers         Summer 76         Ten Lost Years         Untimely Death         Waiting         Who Am I?:         Wrecked Blackship, The         You Can't Get Here from there

And they'll Make Peace

Synopsis:
A sex-strike in ancient Greece

Notes:
Full-length Adaptation of Aristophanes' "Lysistrata".

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    1962

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  8            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Before Compiegne

Before Compiegne
Joan of Arc's final days.

Notes:
the playwright's (and TWP's) first professional production.

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    13 Dec 1963

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Caboose To Moose Jaw

Synopsis:
Across middle Europe, the mid Atlantic, and mid-century Canada - the history of one Jewish family's various exiles and journeys into the present.

Notes:
written in 2001, the playwright's personal sequel to "Ten Lost Years" (see below)

1st Produced:
unproduced    -

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Centre, The

Synopsis:
A group struggle against conditions in Canada's oldest and worst public housing development

Notes:
Commissioned by the Ontario Housing Corporation for its 19th Annual housing conference

1st Produced:
Ontario Housing Corporation in Sudbury, Ontario    1971

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Death of Woyzeck, The

Death of Woyzeck, The
An abused ordinary soldier murders his mistress

Notes:
Original Playwright - Georg Buchner

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    09 Jan 1965

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  2            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Family Matters

Synopsis:
Several students examine their personal histories and the nature of internal exile.

Notes:
Inadvertently commissioned by the Department of Drama.

1st Produced:
Concordia U    1988

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  6            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Golem of Venice, The

Synopsis:
Two rabbis and two ecclesiasts battle to save Shylock and Antonio's widow . . . and to benefit and to entertain themselves

Notes:
Medieval Jews And Christians in religious (superstitious) And economic (mercantile)combat

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    1967

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Golovlovo

Synopsis:
the decline and demise of a 19th century Russian family

Notes:
A full-length Dramatisation of Saltykov-Shchedrin's novel, the Golovlovs

1st Produced:
BBC radio    1988

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  4            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Happy Birthday, Death!

Synopsis:
the building and testing of the first atomic bomb

Notes:
Based on correspondance between General Leslie Groves, Robert Oppenheimer And President Harry S. Truman.

1st Produced:
CBC radio    1967

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hey Rube!

Synopsis:
the life and death . . . and life of a contemporary circus

Notes:
A new version of T.W.P.'s original 1961 production

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    1965

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length circus Drama

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Letters from the Earth

Synopsis:
Satan visits Earth and witnesses the history of mankind

Notes:
A full-length Dramatisation of satirical prose by Mark Twain with contemporary Additions

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    1973

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mask Of the Bear

Synopsis:
A young prairie girl experiences death in the family, and plots her escape from female servitude

Notes:
A Dramatisation of linked stories in Margaret Lawrence's collection "A Bird In the House".

1st Produced:
CBC TV    1988

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mechanic, The

Mechanic, The
An automobile mechanic pretends to be a medical doctor to help out two lovers . . . and himself

Notes:
A contemporary take on Moliere And the commedia del Arte

1st Produced:
Waterloo University Theatre (inauguration), Waterloo, Ontario    20 Jul 1964

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Mr Pickwick

Synopsis:
Mr. Pickwick bumbles through life high and low and lower

Notes:
A Dramatisation of Charles Dickens' "Pickwick Papers".

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    1972

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Adaptation

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Party Day

Synopsis:
Joseph Goebbels, the Director of Ottawa's National Arts Centre, reviews his past nationalist artistic productions: Nazi party rallies, propeganda films, inflamatory broadcasts, etc.

Notes:
commissioned And first produced by the National Arts Centre to celebrate its opening in 1969

1st Produced:
Studio theatreNational Arts Centre    1969

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Playwrights Co-op, Toronto, 1972   -

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:
long one-act

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ravers

Synopsis:
Women whose lives are defined and entwined by schizophrenia pass a day in rest, recreation, and death.

Notes:
written in 2003 with the co-operation of "service users" At the Bath City branch of MIND.

1st Produced:
unproduced    -

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  7            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Summer 76

Synopsis:
A satirical history of the modern Olympics

Notes:
Piece d'occasion to honour the Montreal Olympics

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    1976

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length Olympics play

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Ten Lost Years

Ten Lost Years
the Great Canadian Depression as seen by victims of it.

Notes:
Written with Cedric Smith. A full-length dramtisation of Barry Broadfoot's book of interviews

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    07 Feb 1974

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in CTR Anthology, University of Toronto Press, 1993   -

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:
full-length musical adaptation

Parts:
Male:  6            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Untimely Death

Synopsis:
the life and death of a Prince Edward Island farmer are accounted for by his wives, family and friends . . . and by himself

Notes:
Thirty minute one-act play for voices

1st Produced:
CBC radio    1976

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Waiting

Synopsis:
Tales of unemployment as experienced by four applicants waiting for an interview at Canada Manpower

Notes:
Comissioned by the Local Initiatives Program

1st Produced:
Department of Manpower and Immigra-tion, Toronto    1972

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length Drama

Parts:
Male:  5            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Who Am I?:

Synopsis:
A short circular dialogue about playwrighting.

Notes:
A response to A request by Performing Arts In Canada for An Article

1st Produced:
-    -

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Performing Arts in Canada, Vol. 7, No. 4, 1970   -

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 One Act

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Wrecked Blackship, The

Synopsis:
A 19th century clipper ship founders. the rescue attempts reveal much about the coolie trade and U.S./Japan international relations then and now

Notes:
Radio, television And stage productions

1st Produced:
CBC TV    1970

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
in Performing Arts in Canada, Vol. 7, No. 2,, 1970   -

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:
One Act

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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You Can't Get Here from there

You Can't Get Here from there
Asylum seekers occupy the Canadian Embassy in Santiago, and struggle to enter Canada

Notes:
An examination of Canada's role in the murder of Allende's Chile. the eve of the premiere was the occasion for the fire-bombing of TWP. the theatre was re-built, And the play opened there 3 months later

1st Produced:
Toronto Workshop Productions, Toronto, Ontario    31 Dec 1974

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

Booksellers:

Genre:
full-length Drama

Parts:
Male:  8            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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