Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Kerr, Kevin
Playwright Kevin Kerr was born in Vancouver and grew up in Kamloops British Columbia . He also spent time as a child in Saskatchewan, where his mother's family lives. He studied theatre at the University of British Columbia and at Studio 58, Langara College, Vancouver.
Kevin Kerr is a founding member and co-artistic director of the Electric Company Theatre Brilliant!, The Wake, and The Score.
In 2002 he received the Governor General's Award as a playwright for Unity (1918). It portrays the devastating effects of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 on the Saskatchewan town of Unity, and explores what happens when fear takes hold of a community. When the town is quarantined, the citizens begin to turn on one another, and attempt to find a scapegoat. The title of the play and the name of the town take on an ironic tone as the flu takes more lives, and people become isolated by panic and paranoia. Unity (1918) was developed while Kerr was playwright-in-residence at Touchstone Theatre in Vancouver during its 1999/2000 season, and premiered at Touchstone in 2001 at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre . It has since played at The Great Canadian Theatre Company (2003), Prairie Theatre Exchange (Manitoba Theatre Workshop) (2004), Theatre Passe Muraille , and Regina Little Theatre (2005). It is published by Talonbooks.
Brilliant! The Blinding Enlightenment of Nikola Tesla was first produced at the Vancouver Fringe Festival in 1996. In an expanded form it played at the Roundhouse Performance Space in 1998; High Performance Rodeo, Calgary, 1999; Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver, 2003; C Venues, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2003; Western Canada Theatre Company , Kamloops, 2003; and Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Edmonton, 2004. It is published by Brindle & Glass (Edmonton) in 2004. The play explores the human impulse for creation, and the isolation of the inventive mind. Tesla's alternating current induction motor has been cited as one of the world’s greatest discoveries. He also pioneered the fluorescent light, the laser beam, wireless communication, remote control, robots and vertical take-off aircraft.
Kerr and the Electric Company (including Kim Collier, David Hudgins and Jonathon Young) have earned numerous Jessie Richardson Awards for the 1998 Vancouver production of Brilliant, including Best Production, and Best Original Script.
Last updated 2010-02-04
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