Leah Cherniak
Leah Cherniak | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 22, 1956 |
| Education | University of Toronto |
| Notable work | The 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
Cherniak graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in 1979. She later studied at École Jacques Lecoq, where she met Martha Ross.
Career
Cherniak co-founded Theatre Columbus with Martha Ross in 1984. Originally, the company was called The Gargoils. In 2015, Theatre Columbus changed their name to Common Boots Theatre.
Teaching
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.
Directorial credits
Theatre
- Up Against the Wallpaper – Nightwood Theatre (1989)
- The Tell-Tale Heart – Theatre Columbus (1995)
- Froth (1996)
- Three Birds Alighting on a Field – George Brown Theatre (2000)
- Lonely Nights and Other Stories – Theatre Columbus, co-directed with Maggie Huculak (2001)
- Rue Alridge – Tarragon Theatre (2004)
- Edward the "Crazy Man" – Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People (2008)
- 6 Essential Questions – Factory Theatre (2014)
- Clown – Ryerson School of Performance (2018)
- The Ward Cabaret – Harbourfront Centre Theatre (2020), co-directed with David Buchbinder
- Perpetual Archaeology – Crow's Theatre written by and starring Alex Bulmer (June 2023)
Film
- Things Dead People Say – short film (2020)
Acting credits
Theatre
| Year | Show | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls | Jelly | ||
| 2015 | The Dybbuk, Or Between Two Worlds | Frayde | ||
| 2018 | Animal Farm | Bessie | ||
| 2019 | Scadding | Ensemble |
Plays
- Until We Part – co-written with Martha Ross
- The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine – co-written with Robert Morgan and Martha Ross
- Still Clowning – co-written with Martha Ross
- The Fragments – co-written with Suvendrini Lena and Trevor Schwellnus
- The Theory of Relatives – co-written with Daniel Brooks, Diane Flacks, Richard Greenblatt, Leslie Lester, and Allan Merovitz
- The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls – co-written with Jennifer Brewin, Martha Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald, and Alisa Palmer
- More Fine Girls – co-written with Brewin, Ross, MacDonald, and Palmer, sequel to The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls
- Scadding ' co-created with Jennifer Brewin, Alex Bulmer, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, John Gzowski, Maggie Huculak, Anand Rajaram, Jenny Salisbury and Stephon Smith
- The Betrayal – co-written with Oliver Dennis, Maggie Huculak, Robert Morgan, Martha Ross and Michael Simpson
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Results | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Dora Mavor Moore Awards – Small Theatre | Best Production | Fertility | Won | with Martha Ross | |
| 1988 | Outstanding Direction | The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding New Play | Nominated | |||||
| 1989 | Outstanding Direction | Paranoia | Nominated | |||
| 1990 | Dr. Dapertutto | Nominated | ||||
| 1991 | Dora Mavor Moore Awards – Ancillary awards | Pauline McGibbon Award | N/A | Won | ||
| 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 | |
| Dora Mavor Moore Awards – Small Theatre | Outstanding New Play | Nominated | ||||
| 1995 | Outstanding Performance by a Female–Play | The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls | Nominated | |||
| 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 | |||
| Dora Mavor Moore Awards – General Theatre | Outstanding Direction | The Diary of Anne Frank | Nominated | |||
| 1998 | Outstanding Direction of a Play | The Betrayal | Nominated | |||
| 1999 | Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award | General Theatre | Won | co-winner with Oliver Dennis, Maggie Huculak, Robert Morgan, Martha Ross and Michael Simpson | ||
| 2003 | Dora Mavor Moore Awards – General Theatre | Outstanding Direction of a Play | The Miracle Worker | Nominated | ||
| 2005 | Dora Mavor Moore Awards – Independent Theatre | Outstanding Direction of a Play | The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine | Nominated |
References
- 1 2 3 Lumley, Elizabeth (2000). Canadian Who's Who 2004 : Volume XXXIX. University of Toronto Press. pp. 235–236.
- 1 2 3 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.
- ↑ "About the Company". Common Boots Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
- ↑ Wagner, Vit (1995-08-18). "Theatre forecast fair to good". Toronto Star. p. D8.
- ↑ Walker, Susan (1996-12-01). "On the shopping block". Toronto Star. p. B7. ISSN 0319-0781.
- ↑ Kaplan, John (2000-11-16). "Art Smarts". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
- ↑ Crew, Robert (2001-06-07). "Actor navigates the mental map; Maggie Huculak continues to grow with Theatre Columbus". Toronto Star. p. G07.
- ↑ Kaplan, Jon (2004-02-26). "Rune's tune". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
- ↑ Maga, Carly (2011-04-25). "From the Street to the Storybook in Edward the "Crazy Man"". Torontoist. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Eeswaran, Xavier (2018-10-30). "Clowns aren't all fun and games for Ryerson's actors". The Eyeopener. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- ↑ Teodoro, Jose (2019-12-18). "The Ward Cabaret is a vibrant celebration of cultural diversity through music". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- ↑ Wild, Stephi (2022-06-01). "Crow's Theatre Announces 2022-23 Season". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
- ↑ Sumi, Glenn (2020-07-01). "8 Fringe Collective artists to watch (or hear)". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- 1 2 Taylor, Kate (1995-03-03). "A remarkable balancing act of comedy and drama". The Globe and Mail. p. D9.
- ↑ Kaplan, Jon (2015-05-26). "Review: The Dybbuk". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- ↑ Maga, Carly (2018-03-17). "Desire for comedy trumps message in Soulpepper adaptation of Orwell classic Animal Farm". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
- 1 2 Sumi, Glenn (2019-07-06). "Fringe review: Scadding". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
- ↑ Morrow, Martin (2016-02-09). "Cowboy Versus Samurai, Ernest Versus Ernestine". Torontoist. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
- ↑ Wagner, Vit (March 16, 1994). "Still: it's exclusive clowning". Toronto Star. p. D1.
- ↑ McKeown, Lisa (2019-11-24). "Here Are The Fragments is a powerful immersive show". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
- 1 2 Chapman, Geoff (1994-03-08). "One-man show in running for Chalmers play prize". Toronto Star. p. F5.
- ↑ Nestruck, J. Kelly (2011-03-09). "They can go home again". The Globe and Mail. p. R1.
- 1 2 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.
- ↑ Conlogue, Ray (1987-06-23). "Mikado, B-Movie big Dora winners". The Globe and Mail. p. D8.
- ↑ Crew, Robert (1988-05-11). "CentreStage play tops Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. p. C1.
- ↑ Vinceni, Isabel (1989-05-13). "And the Dora nominees are". The Globe and Mail. p. C6.
- ↑ Conlogue, Ray (1990-05-15). "Dora nominations harvested from sparse crop of new plays". Globe and Mail. p. A19.
- ↑ Friedlander, Mira (1991-06-23). "Awards spotlight theatre's top talent". Toronto Star. p. C1.
- ↑ "Dora nominations list". Toronto Star. 1994-05-18. p. D19.
- ↑ "Nominations for '95 Dora Awards". Toronto Star. 1995-05-13. p. J13.
- ↑ Crew, Robert (1996-03-14). "New writers contest Chalmers play awards". Toronto Star. p. D4.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Dora Award nominees". Toronto Start. 1998-05-27.
- ↑ "Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. 2003-05-22. p. A35.
- ↑ "2005 Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. 2005-06-09. p. A23.
