Anusree Roy

Anusree Roy
Roy in May 2019
Born
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
CitizenshipCanadian
Education
Occupations
  • Playwright
  • Actor
  • Screenwriter
  • Co-Executive Producer
SpouseRyan Ravi Tiwari (m. 2018)
Writing career
Period2000s–present
Notable works
  • Pyaasa
  • Brothel #9
  • Letters to my Grandma
  • Roshni
  • Sultans of the Street
  • Little Pretty & The Exceptional
  • Trident Moon
  • Sisters
  • Through the Eyes of God
Notable awards
Websiteanusreeroy.com

Anusree Roy is a Canadian playwright, actor, screenwriter, and co-executive producer. Anusree is a two-time finalist for the Governor General's Award and four-time Dora Award-winner; she has also been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for "Best Guest Performance, Drama Series" for the television show Allegiance.

Education

Roy was born in Kolkata, India, and immigrated to Canada with her family as a teenager.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in theatre from York University and a Master of Arts from the University of Toronto.

Theatre work

She premiered her first piece, breathlessness, in 2006. Her play Pyaasa debuted at Theatre Passe Muraille in 2007 and won two Dora Mavor Moore Awards in the independent theatre division in 2008, including Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance (Female).

Her subsequent plays have included Letters to My Grandma, Roshni, and Brothel #9. Brothel #9 won the Carol Bolt Award and the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play in 2011, and was a nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2012 Governor General's Awards. She has also won the RBC Emerging Artist Award, the K.M. Hunter Award, and the Siminovitch Protege Prize.

Trident Moon premiered at the Finborough Theatre in London, England, and was a 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist. Her subsequent play Little Pretty & The Exceptional premiered at the Factory Theatre in 2017.

Her audio play Sisters premiered online on Apple Podcasts and Spotify on March 20, 2021. She has written two operas, Noor over Afghan and The Golden Boy.

She has been playwright-in-residence at the Canadian Stage Company, Theatre Passe Muraille, Nightwood Theatre, Factory Theatre, and Blyth Festival. She is co-artistic director with David DeGrow and Thomas Morgan Jones of Theatre Jones Roy.

In 2025, her play "Trident Moon" premiered in a joint-production at Crow's Theatre in Toronto, and National Arts Centre, in Ottawa, Ontario. It was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for "Outstanding New Play".

In 2026, her play "Through the Eyes of God" premiered at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto; it has been awarded the Toronto Theatre Critics Award for "Best Production of a Play"; it has also been nominated for the upcoming Dora Mavor Moore Award, for 'Outstanding New Play'.

Television work

She played Nurse Patel on the television series Remedy in 2014 and 2015. She was also a story editor for Remedy in its first season. She was an executive story editor on season 5 of sci-fi drama Killjoys. She has been an executive story editor and consulting producer, respectively, on the first two seasons of Nurses. She was a consulting producer and writer on CTV's Transplant.

She has also been a creative consultant in the Netflix show I Woke Up A Vampire, as well as supervising producer and writer in Paramount+/CBC's SkyMed. Her recent writing works include CBC's Allegiance and AMC's The Vampire Lestat.

Adjunct professor

Anusree Roy has been an adjunct professor of playwriting at the University of Toronto, and a professor of creating writing, teaching advanced writing of drama to Master of Fine Arts students, at the University of British Columbia.

Plays

Awards and nominations

Year Nominated work Award Category Result Ref.
2008 Pyaasa Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding New Play or Musical Won
Outstanding Performance by a Female Won
2009 RBC Emerging Artist Award Won
2010 Letters to My Grandma Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding New Play Nominated
Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role – Play Nominated
2011 Brothel #9 Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding New Play Won
Carol Bolt Award Won
K.M. Hunter Artist Award Theatre Won
Siminovitch Prize in Theatre Protégé Won
2012 Brothel #9 Governor General's Awards English-language drama Finalist
2014 Sultans of the Street Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding New Play for Young Audiences Won
2018 Trident Moon Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist
2025 Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding New Play Nominated
Little Pretty and the Exceptional Governor General's Awards English-language drama Finalist
2026 Through the Eyes of God Toronto Theatre Critics Award Best Production of a Play Won
Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding New Play Nominated
2026 Allegiance Canadian Screen Awards Best Guest Performance, Drama Series Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nothof, Anne. "Roy, Anusree". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  2. ↑ "Anusree Roy". Tapa.ca. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "About Anusree". Anusreeroy.com. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  4. ↑ "Anusree Roy". academy.ca. 25 March 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  5. ↑ "Another award for Anusree Roy". Toronto.com. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Awards Archive (1995–2022) –". KM Hunter Foundation. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "Anusree Roy". Siminovitch Theatre Foundation. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  8. ↑ "Trident Moon". Finborough Theatre. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  9. ↑ "Trident Moon". The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  10. ↑ McKeown, Lisa (20 April 2017). "Anusree Roy's Little Pretty and The Exceptional". My Entertainment World.
  11. ↑ "Sisters". Factory Theatre. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  12. ↑ McLean, Sandra (16 July 2008). "Alumna weaves hardships into award-winning play about caste". YFile. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "York alumni shortlisted for Toronto Mayor's Arts Awards". Yorju.ca. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  14. ↑ Gokhale, Veena (22 September 2013). "'I always want to make art that is real and truthful'". Montréalserai.com. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  15. ↑ Sumi, Glenn (5 January 2012). "Cover story: Anusree Roy". Nowtoronto.com. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  16. ↑ "Trident Moon | Crow's Theatre". Crowstheatre.com. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  17. ↑ "Trident Moon | Apr 2 - 12, 2025 | Azrieli Studio". Nac-cna.ca. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  18. ↑ Abrigo, Krystal (1 July 2025). "TAPA unveils 2025 Dora Award winners". Intermissionmagazine.ca. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  19. ↑ "Through the Eyes of God". Passemuraille.ca. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  20. 1 2 "Toronto Theatre Critics' Awards honour the best of the 2025-26 season". Goaheadsumi.com. 14 May 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  21. 1 2 "Surprises, snubs and more snubs from this year's confounding Dora Award nominations". Theglobeandmail.com. 1 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  22. ↑ "Remedy (2014–): Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  23. ↑ Liszewski, Bridget (15 February 2019). "Women Behind Canadian TV: Anusree Roy". The TV Junkies. Archived from the original on 19 November 2022.
  24. ↑ "Production Begins on Season 2 of Acclaimed CTV Original Series TRANSPLANT". BellMedia. 9 February 2021.
  25. ↑ "Anusree Roy". Harthouse.ca. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  26. ↑ "Pyaasa - A Play Reading - Theatre Passe Muraille". Theatre Passe Muraille. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  27. ↑ Lane, Carly (22 June 2026). "'The Vampire Lestat' Star Breaks Down Louis' Most Uncomfortable Scene Yet [Exclusive]". Collider.com. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  28. ↑ "Hart House". Harthouse.ca. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  29. ↑ "Creative Writing Courses | University of British Columbia (UBC) Vancouver". Creativewriting.ubc.ca. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  30. 1 2 "Pyaasa & Letters to My Grandma". Playwrights Canada Press. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  31. ↑ "Anusree Roy". New Play Exchange. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  32. ↑ "Sultans of the Street". Amazon.com. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  33. ↑ Wheeler, Brad (29 March 2017). "What playwright Anusree Roy is watching, looking forward to and tuning into". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  34. ↑ "Trident Moon". Playwrights Guild of Canada. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  35. ↑ "Sisters". Factory Theatre. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  36. ↑ "Through the Eyes of God". Theatre Passe Muraille. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  37. 1 2 3 "TAPA - Recipients". Tapa.ca. 13 April 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  38. ↑ "Another award for Anusree Roy". Toronto.com. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  39. ↑ "TAPA - Nominees". Tapa.ca. 13 April 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  40. ↑ "Anusree Roy Wins Carol Bolt Award For Playwrights". Broadwayworld.com. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  41. ↑ "Awards Archive (1995-2022)". Kmhunterfoundation.ca. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  42. ↑ "Anusree Roy". Siminovitchprize.com. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  43. ↑ Irish, Paul (2 October 2012). "Governor General's Awards: Vincent Lam among authors shortlisted". Toronto Star. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  44. ↑ "The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize : 2018 Finalists". Blackburnprize.org. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  45. ↑ "TAPA - Nominees". TAPA. 13 April 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  46. ↑ "Vinh Nguyen, katherena vermette and Lorna Goodison among finalists for $25K Governor General's Literary Awards". CBC Books. 21 October 2025.
  47. ↑ Cutruzzola, Annemarie (1 June 2026). "Heated Rivalry & Other Big Wins at the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards". Shedoesthecity.com. Retrieved 30 June 2026.