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Russell-King, Caroline

Caroline Russell-King
Caroline Russell-King. Photo credit: Ben Laird.

Caroline Russell-King is an award-winning playwright who has written thirty-two plays which have had sixty-two productions across Canada and the US.

Her play Selma Burke (with Maria Crooks) premiered at Theatre Calgary in association with Alberta Theatre Projects in 2024. It celebrates the life and art of Black American sculptor, Selma Burke, born in 1900, who for six decades sculpted historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Duke Ellington, and Booker T. Washington in wood, clay and bronze. Selma Burke won the National Playwriting Competition, the Betty Mitchell Theatre Award for Outstanding New Play, and the Calgary Theatre Critics’ Award for Outstanding New Play Script; it was also a finalist in the Sharon Pollock Playwriting Competition.

High and Splendid Braveries was the winner of the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award for drama from the Writers' Guild of Alberta in 2023.

Other plays include Mr. Fixit which was produced at Lunchbox Theatre and nominated for a Betty Mitchell Theatre Award; and Second Chance, First Love, nominated for a Calgary Theatre Critics Award. Lunchbox Theatre also produced A Butler Did It (with music by Patrick R. Brown). Mounting Sex in the Afternoon Zone premiered at Solar Stage (Toronto) and went on to have eleven more productions across Canada including Lunchbox Theatre and Prime Stock Theatre.

Her plays are published in five anthologies, and her latest trilogy of plays Palliser Suite (Frontenac House Press) and was a finalist for the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour. She co-wrote Strategies - The Business of being a Playwright in Canada (with Rose Scollard) published by the Playwrights Guild of Canada.

Russell-Smith has adjudicated plays nationally for contests and publishing houses. She served on the board of the Alberta Playwrights’ Network and currently represents Western Canadian as ambassador for the Dramatist Guild of America. A member of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, she has worked in new play development and as a freelance dramaturg and literary manager for thirty years. She is the CEO and founder of Dramaturgy on Demand (www.dramturgyondemand.com), working with playwrights in Canada and the US. Her second non-fiction book is Do it Yourself Dramaturgy, 1001 Questions to ask yourself before sending out your play. She also teaches playwriting and leads The Artist Way groups at the Alexander Writers Centre.

As a freelance theatre critic, she pioneered the Postcard Review and Postcard Profiles, subsequently reviewing about sixty-five shows a year. She is a member of the International Theatre Critics Association and an adjudicator for the Calgary Theatre Critics Awards. She is a member and past vice president of the Playwrights Guild of Canada.

Website: www.carolinerussellking.com

Last updated 2024-07-09