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Leah Cherniak

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Leah Cherniak
Born (1956-08-22) August 22, 1956 (age 68)[1]
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
Notable workThe Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls

Leah Cherniak (born 1956) is a Canadian playwright, actor, and teacher. She is a co-founder of Theatre Columbus (now called Common Boots).

Early life and education

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Cherniak graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in 1979.[1] She later studied at École Jacques Lecoq, where she met Martha Ross.[2]

Career

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Cherniak co-founded Theatre Columbus with Martha Ross in 1984. Originally, the company was called The Gargoils.[2] In 2015, Theatre Columbus changed their name to Common Boots Theatre.[3]

Teaching

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Beginning in 1985, Cherniak taught clown at the National Theatre School. In 2001, Cherniak began teaching dance at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and George Brown College.[1]

Directorial credits

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Theatre

[edit]

Film

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  • Things Dead People Say — short film (2020)[14]

Acting credits

[edit]

Theatre

[edit]
Year Show Role Notes Ref.
1995 The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls Jelly [15]
2015 The Dybbuk, Or Between Two Worlds Frayde [16]
2018 Animal Farm Bessie [17]
2019 Scadding Ensemble [18]

Plays

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  • Until We Part — co-written with Martha Ross[2]
  • The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine — co-written with Robert Morgan and Martha Ross[19]
  • Still Clowning — co-written with Martha Ross[20]
  • The Fragments — co-written with Suvendrini Lena and Trevor Schwellnus[21]
  • The Theory of Relatives — co-written with Daniel Brooks, Diane Flacks, Richard Greenblatt, Leslie Lester, and Allan Merovitz[22]
  • The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls — co-written with Jennifer Brewin, Martha Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald, and Alisa Palmer[15]
  • More Fine Girls — co-written with Brewin, Ross, MacDonald, and Palmer, sequel to The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls[23]
  • Scadding — co-created with Jennifer Brewin, Alex Bulmer, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, John Gzowski, Maggie Huculak, Anand Rajaram, Jenny Salisbury and Stephon Smith[18]
  • The Betrayal — co-written with Oliver Dennis, Maggie Huculak, Robert Morgan, Martha Ross and Michael Simpson[24]

Awards

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Year Award Category Work Results Notes Ref.
1987 Dora Mavor Moore Awards — Small Theatre Best Production Fertility Won with Martha Ross [25]
1988 Outstanding Direction The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine Nominated [26]
Outstanding New Play Nominated
1989 Outstanding Direction Paranoia Nominated [27]
1990 Dr. Dapertutto Nominated [28]
1991 Dora Mavor Moore Awards — Ancillary awards Pauline McGibbon Award N/A Won [29]
1994 Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award General Theatre The Theory of Relatives Nominated with Daniel Brooks, Diane Flacks, Richard Greenblatt, Leslie Lester, Allan Merovitz [22]
Dora Mavor Moore Awards — Small Theatre Outstanding New Play Nominated [30]
1995 Outstanding Performance by a Female - Play The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls Nominated [31]
Outstanding New Play or Musical Nominated with Ann-Marie MacDonald, Martha Ross with Alisa Palmer, Jennifer Brewin
1996 Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award General Theatre Nominated [32]
Dora Mavor Moore Awards — General Theatre Outstanding Direction The Diary of Anne Frank Nominated [33]
1998 Outstanding Direction of a Play The Betrayal Nominated [34]
1999 Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award General Theatre Won co-winner with Oliver Dennis, Maggie Huculak, Robert Morgan, Martha Ross and Michael Simpson [24]
2003 Dora Mavor Moore Awards — General Theatre Outstanding Direction of a Play The Miracle Worker Nominated [35]
2005 Dora Mavor Moore Awards — Independent Theatre Outstanding Direction of a Play The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine Nominated [36]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Lumley, Elizabeth (2000). Canadian Who's Who 2004 : Volume XXXIX. University of Toronto Press. pp. 235–236.
  2. ^ a b c Crew, Robert (1994-03-15). "Award-winning stage duo honor clown roots Two troupers take a darkly comic view of success". Toronto Star. p. C5 – via ProQuest.
  3. ^ "About the Company". Common Boots Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  4. ^ Wagner, Vit (1995-08-18). "Theatre forecast fair to good". Toronto Star. p. D8 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Walker, Susan (1996-12-01). "On the shopping block". Toronto Star. p. B7. ISSN 0319-0781.
  6. ^ Kaplan, John (2000-11-16). "Art Smarts". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  7. ^ Crew, Robert (2001-06-07). "Actor navigates the mental map; Maggie Huculak continues to grow with Theatre Columbus". Toronto Star. p. G07 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ Kaplan, Jon (2004-02-26). "Rune's tune". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  9. ^ Maga, Carly (2011-04-25). "From the Street to the Storybook in Edward the "Crazy Man"". Torontoist. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  10. ^ BWW News Desk (2014-03-01). "Factory Theatre Presents World Premiere of 6 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS by Priscila Uppal, Now thru 3/30". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  11. ^ Eeswaran, Xavier (2018-10-30). "Clowns aren't all fun and games for Ryerson's actors". The Eyeopener. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  12. ^ Teodoro, Jose (2019-12-18). "The Ward Cabaret is a vibrant celebration of cultural diversity through music". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  13. ^ Wild, Stephi (2022-06-01). "Crow's Theatre Announces 2022-23 Season". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  14. ^ Sumi, Glenn (2020-07-01). "8 Fringe Collective artists to watch (or hear)". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  15. ^ a b Taylor, Kate (1995-03-03). "A remarkable balancing act of comedy and drama". The Globe and Mail. p. D9 – via ProQuest.
  16. ^ Kaplan, Jon (2015-05-26). "Review: The Dybbuk". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  17. ^ Maga, Carly (2018-03-17). "Desire for comedy trumps message in Soulpepper adaptation of Orwell classic Animal Farm". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  18. ^ a b Sumi, Glenn (2019-07-06). "Fringe review: Scadding". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  19. ^ Morrow, Martin (2016-02-09). "Cowboy Versus Samurai, Ernest Versus Ernestine". Torontoist. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  20. ^ Wagner, Vit (March 16, 1994). "Still: it's exclusive clowning". Toronto Star. p. D1.
  21. ^ McKeown, Lisa (2019-11-24). "Here Are The Fragments is a powerful immersive show". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  22. ^ a b Chapman, Geoff (1994-03-08). "One-man show in running for Chalmers play prize". Toronto Star. p. F5 – via ProQuest.
  23. ^ Nestruck, J. Kelly (2011-03-09). "They can go home again". The Globe and Mail. p. R1 – via ProQuest.
  24. ^ a b Wagner, Vit (1999-05-18). "Eighth Chalmers for Walker ; Playwright wins national arts award second year in a row". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781 – via ProQuest.
  25. ^ Conlogue, Ray (1987-06-23). "Mikado, B-Movie big Dora winners". The Globe and Mail. p. D8 – via ProQuest.
  26. ^ Crew, Robert (1988-05-11). "CentreStage play tops Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. p. C1 – via ProQuest.
  27. ^ Vinceni, Isabel (1989-05-13). "And the Dora nominees are". The Globe and Mail. p. C6 – via ProQuest.
  28. ^ Conlogue, Ray (1990-05-15). "Dora nominations harvested from sparse crop of new plays". Globe and Mail. p. A19 – via ProQuest.
  29. ^ Friedlander, Mira (1991-06-23). "Awards spotlight theatre's top talent". Toronto Star. p. C1.
  30. ^ "Dora nominations list". Toronto Star. 1994-05-18. p. D19.
  31. ^ "Nominations for '95 Dora Awards". Toronto Star. 1995-05-13. p. J13 – via ProQuest.
  32. ^ Crew, Robert (1996-03-14). "New writers contest Chalmers play awards". Toronto Star. p. D4 – via ProQuest.
  33. ^ Kirchhoff, H J (1996-05-17). "Harbourfront Centre tops Dora list: Captures 23 nominations, Canadian Stage is second with 17". The Globe and Mail. p. C5.
  34. ^ "Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. 1998-05-27 – via ProQuest.
  35. ^ "Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. 2003-05-22. p. A35 – via ProQuest.
  36. ^ "2005 Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. 2005-06-09. p. A23.
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