Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Foster, Norm
Prolific playwright and actor, born in Newmarket, Ontario , in 1949. He is considered by many to be Canada's pre-eminent comic playwright.
He studied radio and television at Centennial College in Toronto and Confederation College in Thunder Bay before writing two very successful works - Sinners and The Melville Boys - for Theatre New Brunswick 's Artistic Director Malcolm Black .
Both works have been translated into French and the latter has been produced all over the country. Norm Foster's works have been performed at major houses and summer theatres and are very popular with audiences. He won the Los Angeles Drama-Logue award in 1988 for The Melville Boys.
His The Affections of May (Theatre New Brunswick, 1990, directed by Michael Shamata ), also had huge success and played at theatres, mainstream and festival, across the country (among them Centaur Theatre ).
He has written more than forty-two plays, including: Windfall ( Theatre Plus , 1986, directed by Black), Bravado ( Magnus Theatre , 1988, Michael McLaughlin), Ned Durango Comes to the Big Oak ( Grand Theatre, London , Charlie Tomlinson), The Long Weekend ( Festival Antigonish , 1994, Michael Keating), Jupiter in July ( Theatre Aquarius , Hamilton, 1997, Christopher McHarge), A Foggy Day ( Shaw Festival , 1998, Kelly Robinson), Ethan Claymore ( Grand Theatre, London , 1998, Miles Potter ), The Foursome (Theatre-on-the-Grand, Fergus, 1998, Christopher McHarge; Festival Antigonish, Nova Scotia, 1999), Drinking Alone (Festival Antigonish, 1998, Jean Mortpurgo), Office Hours (six one-act plays, Lunchbox Theatre , 2000), Old Love (Lighthouse Festival Theatre, Port Dover, 2008, which he also acted), and Skin Flick ( Neptune Theatre 2009).
Cynthia Zimmerman writes in Letters in Canada 1998: "The master of clever situation comedies with lots of witty one-liners, and some memorable quick-sketch characterizations, Foster is often compared to America's Neil Simon or Britain's Alan Ayckbourn."
Last updated 2010-03-25
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