Seana McKenna (born 15 August 1956) is a Canadians, Canadian actress primarily associated with theatre, stage roles at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Background

Seana McKenna was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada, where as a student she played Gwendolen in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' and Isabella in ''Women Beware Women'' by Thomas Middleton.

Stratford Shakespeare Festival

McKenna has played over 40 theatre, stage roles over the course of 23 years at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and major ones from very early on, specializing since the 2000s in strong-willed women but also mesmerizing as an actress looking very different from one role to another. 2013 was her 22nd season: She played Queen Elizabeth I in Friedrich Schiller's ''Mary Stuart (play), Mary Stuart'' directed by Antoni Cimolino and Madame Arcati in Noël Coward's ''Blithe Spirit (play), Blithe Spirit'' directed by Brian Bedford.

Roles in other companies

She has also played leading roles in many other major houses across Canada, including the title role in ''Antony and Cleopatra'' by William Shakespeare (Centaur Theatre), Maggie in ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' by Tennessee Williams (Grand Theatre (London, Ontario), Grand Theatre, London), ''The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe'' by Jane Wagner (Belfry Theatre, Epstein Theatre, Neptune Theatre, National Arts Centre, Manitoba Theatre Centre/MTC), Blanche Dubois in ''A Streetcar Named Desire (play), A Streetcar Named Desire'' by Tennessee Williams (Theatre New Brunswick), Eliza Dollitle in ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and the title role in ''Candida (play), Candida'' by George Bernard Shaw (Shaw Festival), ''Medea (play), Medea'' by Euripides and ''Hedda Gabler'' by Henrik Ibsen (MTC), Blanche Dubois again at MTC, ''Wit (play), Wit'' by Margaret Edson at the Canadian Stage Company, ''Orpheus Descending'' by Tennessee Williams at the Manitoba Theatre Centre and Royal Alexandra Theatre, ''Doubt: A Parable'' by John Patrick Shanley at the Canadian Stage Company, ''Phèdre'' by Jean Racine (American Conservatory Theater), and ''The Year of Magical Thinking'' by Joan Didion (Belfry Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, and National Arts Centre).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pQhCi85Oew Video excerpt of Tarragon Theatre production of The Year of Magical Thinking

Films and TV

Mckenna has also acted in a few films and television, including the 1997 film ''The Hanging Garden (film), The Hanging Garden'', in which she won a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well at filmed Stratford productions: Twelfth Night (1986, King John (2015), and Hamlet (2016)

Home life

She married director Miles Potter, and they have one son, Callan, born in 1998.

Stratford Shakespeare Festival credits

DVDs, CDs, Audiobooks, Video clips

*''Twelfth Night'' (1986) CBC Home Video, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, based on the 1985 Stratford Shakespeare Festival production. *''Good Mother'' (2002) by Damien Atkins Bell Canada Reading, CBC Audiobook CD, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. *''Medea (play), Medea'' (2001) by Euripides CBC Audiobook CD, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, based on the 2001 Stratford Shakespeare Festival production. *Narrator for ''Away (novel), Away'', novel in Audiobook format by Jane Urquhart. *Interview for Theatre Museum Canada by R.H. Thomson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qPUVOzJkrU

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Seana Actresses from Toronto Canadian stage actresses Canadian film actresses Best Supporting Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Living people Members of the Order of Canada Dora Mavor Moore Award winners 1956 births Canadian Shakespearean actresses