Allan Stratton
Encyclopedia
Allan Stratton is a Canadian
playwright
and novelist.
Born in Stratford
, Ontario
, Stratton began his professional arts career began while he was still in high school, when James Reaney
published his play The Rusting Heart in the literary magazine Alphabet. It was broadcast on CBC Radio
in 1970. The focus of his early work, however, was acting. While working on an Honours degree in English at Victoria University in the University of Toronto
(1973), he performed with the Stratford Festival and the Huron Country Playhouse. After completing his M.A.
at The Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama
, University of Toronto
(1974), he appeared with regional theatres across the country, originating a range of roles in new works by playwrights such as James Reaney, Rex Deverell and Sharon Pollock
.
Throughout this period, Stratton continued to write, and in 1977 his first professional stage play, 72 Under the 0, was produced by Christopher Newton
at the Vancouver Playhouse. A few years later, he turned to writing fulltime, thanks to the success of Nurse Jane Goes to Hawaii, a play that has had over three hundred productions internationally. Rexy!, a satire about Mackenzie King, was premiered in the winter of 1981. It was performed across Canada, and won the Chalmers Award
, the Canadian Authors’ Association Award, and the Dora Mavor Moore Award
, all for Best New Play.
In 1982, he moved to New York
, where he was a member of the Playwright/Director Unit of Lee Strasberg
's Actor's Studio, chaired by Arthur Penn
. While there, Christopher Newton commissioned Stratton to write an adaptation of the classic Labiche farce Célimare for the Shaw Festival
Mainstage. The production went on to tour to the National Arts Centre
, and was the first Shaw production aired on CBC television
. Papers, another of his plays with an international publication and production record, followed soon after. It premiered at the Tarragon Theatre
, and won a Chalmers Award for Outstanding New Play, as well as being nominated for the 1986 Governor General's Award for English language drama
the Dora Mavor Moore Award.
Stratton returned to Canada in the late 1980s, and moved to Montreal
, where he wrote the comedy-of-bad-manners Bag Babies, which opened at Theatre Passe Muraille
in 1990. It was nominated for the City of Toronto Book Award
and produced across Canada, as well as in the United States
, Edinburgh
and London
. A few years later, he was commissioned to adapt Dracula
for the Skylight Theatre. A female van Helsing, a comic look at Victorian mores, and a recreation of the novel's sweep distinguish this adaptation which was nominated for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best New Play, Large Theatre Division, 1995.
Other plays include The 101 Miracles of Hope Chance, which premiered at the Manitoba Theatre Centre
; Joggers, which premiered at Toronto Free Theatre (now Canadianstage); A Flush of Tories, which premiered at Prairie Theatre Exchange, and aired as a drama special on CBC television; and the radio play When Father Passed Away.
In the mid 1990s, Stratton headed the Drama Department at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, where he taught senior directing, acting and playwriting. His students won many awards, including three consecutive Best New Play Awards at the Sears Drama Festival provincial championships. However, classroom and administrative duties restricted his creative time and consequently he returned to fulltime writing.
For the past few years, his focus has been fiction. The results of this work include two novels released in fall 2000: The Phoenix Lottery, a social satire about art, commerce and untidy family relationships, published by the Riverbank Press; and Leslie’s Journal, a young adult novel about sexual abuse in adolescent dating relationships, published in Canada and in the United States by Annick Press.
The Phoenix Lottery was nominated for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind
’s Talking Book of the Year Award, and the TORGI Award; it received a Stephen Leacock Award of Merit. Leslie’s Journal was selected for the American Library Association
’s “Best Books for Young Adults, 2002”, “Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2003” and “Best Reading List, 2003”. Other citations include The Canadian Bookseller’s “The Best of Canadian Young Adult: Gems of 2000”, the Young Adult Learning Services Association (A.L.A.)’s “Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 2001”, the McNally Robinson Booksellers’ “Our Choice 2001”, and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s “Best Books for Young Adults”.
Stratton's 2004 novel Chanda's Secrets, a young adult/adult crossover, is set against the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa
. The novel has received critical praise internationally and is being published and distributed around the world to countries, including the United States, Great Britain
, South Africa
, India
, Germany
, France
, Japan
, China
, Australia
, New Zealand
, Ireland
, Hong Kong
, Slovenia
and the Africa
n francophonie. It is has won the American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Honor Book for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, the African Studies Association's Children's Africana Book Award for Best Book for the Older Reader, and a host of other best book awards and citations.
Stratton is currently married to his life partner, Daniel.
Aside from his novels and plays, Stratton has written for international events, including the evenings for Stephen Sondheim
, Robert Rauschenberg
and Guy Laliberté
at the Harbourfront Centre
World Leaders’ Festival, Toronto
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and novelist.
Born in Stratford
Stratford, Ontario
Stratford is a city on the Avon River in Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada with a population of 32,000.When the area was first settled by Europeans in 1832, the townsite and the river were named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is the seat of Perth County. Stratford was...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Stratton began his professional arts career began while he was still in high school, when James Reaney
James Reaney
James Crerar Reaney was an influential Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol."...
published his play The Rusting Heart in the literary magazine Alphabet. It was broadcast on CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
in 1970. The focus of his early work, however, was acting. While working on an Honours degree in English at Victoria University in the University of Toronto
Victoria University in the University of Toronto
Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...
(1973), he performed with the Stratford Festival and the Huron Country Playhouse. After completing his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
at The Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
, University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
(1974), he appeared with regional theatres across the country, originating a range of roles in new works by playwrights such as James Reaney, Rex Deverell and Sharon Pollock
Sharon Pollock
Sharon Pollock is a Canadian playwright, actor, director, who lives in Calgary, Alberta. She has been Artistic Director of Theatre Calgary , Theatre New Brunswick and Performance Kitchen & The Garry Theatre, the latter which she herself founded in 1992. In 2007, she was made a Fellow of the Royal...
.
Throughout this period, Stratton continued to write, and in 1977 his first professional stage play, 72 Under the 0, was produced by Christopher Newton
Christopher Newton
Christopher Newton is a Canadian director and actor and served as Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival from 1980-2002.Newton was born in England and educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School in Kent, the University of Leeds, Purdue University in Indiana and the University of Illinois, where he...
at the Vancouver Playhouse. A few years later, he turned to writing fulltime, thanks to the success of Nurse Jane Goes to Hawaii, a play that has had over three hundred productions internationally. Rexy!, a satire about Mackenzie King, was premiered in the winter of 1981. It was performed across Canada, and won the Chalmers Award
Chalmers Award
Chalmers Award may refer to:* An early version of the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, presented from 1911 to 1914,* a Canadian series of arts awards funded by the Chalmers family of arts patrons, including the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Awards, the Jean A. Chalmers National...
, the Canadian Authors’ Association Award, and the Dora Mavor Moore Award
Dora Mavor Moore Award
The Dora Mavor Moore Award is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance, and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped establish Canadian professional theatre, the award was established on December 13, 1978...
, all for Best New Play.
In 1982, he moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where he was a member of the Playwright/Director Unit of Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
's Actor's Studio, chaired by Arthur Penn
Arthur Penn
Arthur Hiller Penn was an American film director and producer with a career as a theater director as well. Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work throughout the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...
. While there, Christopher Newton commissioned Stratton to write an adaptation of the classic Labiche farce Célimare for the Shaw Festival
Shaw Festival
The Shaw Festival is a major Canadian theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the second largest repertory theatre company in North America...
Mainstage. The production went on to tour to the National Arts Centre
National Arts Centre
The National Arts Centre is a centre for the performing arts located in Ottawa, Ontario, between Elgin Street and the Rideau Canal...
, and was the first Shaw production aired on CBC television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
. Papers, another of his plays with an international publication and production record, followed soon after. It premiered at the Tarragon Theatre
Tarragon Theatre
The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country. Located near Casa Loma, the theatre was founded by Bill and Jane Glassco in 1970. Bill was the Artistic Director from 1971 to 1982. In 1982, Urjo Kareda took over as...
, and won a Chalmers Award for Outstanding New Play, as well as being nominated for the 1986 Governor General's Award for English language drama
Governor General's Award for English language drama
This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award for English-language drama. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English language poetry or drama was divided.-1980s:*1981: Sharon Pollock, Blood Relations...
the Dora Mavor Moore Award.
Stratton returned to Canada in the late 1980s, and moved to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, where he wrote the comedy-of-bad-manners Bag Babies, which opened at Theatre Passe Muraille
Theatre Passe Muraille
Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Canada.-Brief history:One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille was founded in 1968 by director and playwright Jim Garrard, who started the company out of Rochdale College.Its radical intention was create a...
in 1990. It was nominated for the City of Toronto Book Award
City of Toronto Book Award
The Toronto Book Awards are Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the city of Toronto to the author of the year's best fiction or non-fiction book or books "that are evocative of Toronto"....
and produced across Canada, as well as in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. A few years later, he was commissioned to adapt Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
for the Skylight Theatre. A female van Helsing, a comic look at Victorian mores, and a recreation of the novel's sweep distinguish this adaptation which was nominated for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best New Play, Large Theatre Division, 1995.
Other plays include The 101 Miracles of Hope Chance, which premiered at the Manitoba Theatre Centre
Manitoba Theatre Centre
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre is Canada's oldest English-language regional theatre. Next to the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, MTC has a higher annual attendance than any other theatre in the country...
; Joggers, which premiered at Toronto Free Theatre (now Canadianstage); A Flush of Tories, which premiered at Prairie Theatre Exchange, and aired as a drama special on CBC television; and the radio play When Father Passed Away.
In the mid 1990s, Stratton headed the Drama Department at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, where he taught senior directing, acting and playwriting. His students won many awards, including three consecutive Best New Play Awards at the Sears Drama Festival provincial championships. However, classroom and administrative duties restricted his creative time and consequently he returned to fulltime writing.
For the past few years, his focus has been fiction. The results of this work include two novels released in fall 2000: The Phoenix Lottery, a social satire about art, commerce and untidy family relationships, published by the Riverbank Press; and Leslie’s Journal, a young adult novel about sexual abuse in adolescent dating relationships, published in Canada and in the United States by Annick Press.
The Phoenix Lottery was nominated for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the Canadian National Institute for the Blind
Canadian National Institute for the Blind
CNIB is a volunteer agency and charitable organization dedicated to assisting Canadians who are blind or living with vision loss, and to provide information about vision health for all Canadians...
’s Talking Book of the Year Award, and the TORGI Award; it received a Stephen Leacock Award of Merit. Leslie’s Journal was selected for the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
’s “Best Books for Young Adults, 2002”, “Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2003” and “Best Reading List, 2003”. Other citations include The Canadian Bookseller’s “The Best of Canadian Young Adult: Gems of 2000”, the Young Adult Learning Services Association (A.L.A.)’s “Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 2001”, the McNally Robinson Booksellers’ “Our Choice 2001”, and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s “Best Books for Young Adults”.
Stratton's 2004 novel Chanda's Secrets, a young adult/adult crossover, is set against the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
. The novel has received critical praise internationally and is being published and distributed around the world to countries, including the United States, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
and the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n francophonie. It is has won the American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Honor Book for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, the African Studies Association's Children's Africana Book Award for Best Book for the Older Reader, and a host of other best book awards and citations.
Stratton is currently married to his life partner, Daniel.
Aside from his novels and plays, Stratton has written for international events, including the evenings for Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
, Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg was an American artist who came to prominence in the 1950s transition from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. Rauschenberg is well-known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations...
and Guy Laliberté
Guy Laliberté
Guy Laliberté, OC, CQ is a Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, poker player, space tourist and the current CEO of Cirque du Soleil...
at the Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on Toronto, Ontario's waterfront, situated at 235 Queen's Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the federal government to create a waterfront park, it became a non-profit organization in 1991. Funding comes from corporate...
World Leaders’ Festival, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
Prizes and honours
- 1981 Chalmers Award for Rexy!
- 1981 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Rexy!
- 1985 Chalmer’s Award, Outstanding New Play for Papers
- 1986 Finalist, Governor General’s Award for Papers
- 1986 Finalist, Dora Mavor Moore Award for Papers
- 1992 Finalist, Toronto Book Awards for Bag Babies
- 1996 Finalist, Dora Mavor Moore Award - Best New Play for Dracula
- 2000 Stephen Leacock Award of Merit for The Phoenix Lottery
- 2002 American Library Association: “Best Books for Young Adults" for Leslie's Journal
- 2002 McNally Robinson Booksellers Online: "Our Choice 2001" for Leslie's Journal
- 2005 Michael L. Printz Honor Book for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, awarded by the American Library Association, for Chanda's Secrets
- 2005 American Library Association, Best Books for Young Adults Chandra's Secrets
- 2005 Booklist, Editor's Choice for Chanda's Secrets
- 2005 Canadian Library Association Young Adult Canadian Book Award for Chanda's Secrets
- 2005 Independent Publisher Book Award (U.S.A.), Best Juvenile and YA Fiction, for Chanda's Secrets
- 2005 Shortlisted, Ontario Library Association: Forest of Reading White Pine Award for Chanda's Secrets
- 2009 Shortlisted, Ontario Library Association: Forest of Reading White Pine Award for Chanda's Wars
- 2011 Shortlisted, Ontario Library Association: Forest of Reading White Pine Award for Borderline
Novels
- Phoenix Lottery (2000) Riverbank Press
- Leslie's Journal (2000) Annick PressAnnick PressAnnick Press is a Canadian book publishing company that was founded in Toronto in 1975 by Anne Millyard and Rick Wilks. Rick Wilks became the sole owner in 2000. A second editorial office was opened in Vancouver by Colleen MacMillan in 1999...
- Chanda's Secrets (2004) Annick PressAnnick PressAnnick Press is a Canadian book publishing company that was founded in Toronto in 1975 by Anne Millyard and Rick Wilks. Rick Wilks became the sole owner in 2000. A second editorial office was opened in Vancouver by Colleen MacMillan in 1999...
- Chanda's Wars (2008) HarperCollins Canada
- Borderline (2010) HarperCollins Canada
Plays
- Bingo! (aka 72 Under The O) (1977)
- Nurse Jane Goes To Hawaii (1980)
- Rexy! (1981)
- Joggers (1982)
- Friends Of A Feather (1984)
- Papers (1985)
- The Hundred and One Miracles of Hope Chance (1987)
- Bag Babies (1990)
- A Flush of Tories (1991)
- Dracula (1995)