Audrey Dwyer is a Canadian writer, actor, and director. She is a former associate artistic director of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. She wrote the 2018 comedy, Calpurnia.
Early life
Dwyer was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She studied theatre at the University of Manitoba.
Career
In 2011, Dwyer did dramaturgy for and directed Rabiayshna Productions' The Apology. From 2016 to 2017, Dwyer was the artistic director of Cow Over Moon Children's Theatre in Mississauga. She also served as the associate artistic director of both Tarragon Theatre and Nightwood Theatre in Toronto.
Dwyer's play, Calpurnia, premiered in 2018 in Toronto with Nightwood Theatre and Sulong Theatre, under Dwyer's direction. Calpurnia follows a young Jamaican-Canadian writer who is writing a script retelling To Kill A Mockingbird from the perspective of one of the book's minor characters, Calpurnia. The play tackles themes of race, class, and privilege. fu-GEN Theatre selected Calpurnia as one of their top 49 groundbreaking plays by women of colour. Also in 2018, Dwyer developed and performed in One Thing Leads to Another for Young People's Theatre.
In 2019, Dwyer was appointed associate artistic director of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. She previously acted in the RMTC's 2015 production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. In 2020, she directed the RMTC's premiere of Frances Koncan's Women of the Fur Trade. The next year, she directed The Mountaintop with RMTC. The production was streamed online to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions. The RMTC is set to put on Dwyer's play Calpurnia in 2022.
Dwyer wrote the 6-episode Crave series, The D Cut, which premiered in 2020. In 2020, Dwyer wrote the libretto for the opera Backstage at Carnegie Hall. Backstage was composed by Tim Brady and was based on Charlie Christian's 1939 Carnegie Hall performance with Benny Goodman's band.
Dwyer's audio-play, Come Home – The Legend Of Daddy Hall, premiered in May 2021 with Tarragon Theatre. Dwyer directed the production which featured the voices of Jesse Clark, Beau Dixon, Starr Domingue, and Jackie Richardson.
Acting credits
Television YearTitleRoleNotes2008–2009Da Kink in My HairTheaEpisodes: "Forced Ripe Mango" and "Di Heart of Di Matter"2017–2018Baroness Von Sketch ShowMisc. rolesEpisodes: "Sometimes It's Good to Be the Shaman" (2018), "Is That You Karen?" (2018), and "Taco and a Hair Flip" (2017)
Theatre YearTitleRoleCompanyRef.2005throwing stonesClear Light (Toronto Fringe)2005Blue PlanetHuldaYoung People's Theatre2006The BabysitterBabysitterTheatre Direct Canada/Eldritch2008Black MedeaMedeaObsidian Theatre2009The TempestArielDream in High Park2010The OverwhelmingEmiritha / Market Woman / WaitressStudio 180/Canadian Stage2012thirstyJuliaNational Arts Centre2013Clybourne ParkFrancine / LenaStudio 1802014Good PeopleKateRoyal Manitoba Theatre Centre2015Vanya and Sonia and Masha and SpikeCassandraRoyal Manitoba Theatre Centre2016One Thing Leads to AnotherEnsembleYoung People's Theatre2018TheoryLeeTarragon Theatre
Directing credits
Theatre YearTitleCompanyRef.2011The ApologyRabiayshna Productions2011The AftermathNightwood Theatre (Grounsdwell Festival)2017Serenity WildTender Container/SummerWorks2018CalpurniaNightwood Theatre2020Women of the Fur TradeRoyal Manitoba Theatre Centre2021The MountaintopRoyal Manitoba Theatre Centre (online)2021Come Home – The Legend Of Daddy Hall (audio play)Tarragon Theatre2021In ConclusionRoyal Manitoba Theatre Centre (online - Pimootayowin: A Festival of New Work)
Awards +YearAwardCategoryWorkResultNotesRef.2011Dora Mavor Moore Awards – Independent Theatre DivisionOutstanding DirectionThe Apology2015Cayle Chernin AwardTheatreCalpurnia2016Dora Mavor Moore Awards – Theatre for Young AudiencesOutstanding Performance, EnsembleOne Thing Leads to AnotherOutstanding New Playwith Maja Ardal, Julia Tribe, and Mary Francis Moore
References
External links