Ian Ross (born April 8, 1968 in

McCreary, Manitoba McCreary is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of McCreary, Manitoba, Canada. Settled as early as the 19th century, it was incorporated in 1964 as a village—a status it would lose upon amalgamating with the Municipality ...

), the son of Grace and Raymond Ross, is a

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which deri ...

-Canadian playwright.

Life

Ross earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in film and a minor in theatre from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Kinosota, Manitoba before moving to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, which he currently now calls his home. Ross has written for theatre, film, television and radio, and has been writing plays for a number of years but is perhaps best known as the creator of ''Farewel. FareWel'' is Ross’ first professional production, which later won him the 1997

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for English Drama, making Ross the first Métis to win the award. Ross is also the author of a number of plays which include: ''The Gap, Heart of a Distant Tribe, Bic Off!, Bereav'd of Light, An Illustrated History of the

Anishinabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, M ...

,'' and a children's play called, ''Baloney!'' Ross' plays have been produced by the Manitoba Theatre for Young People,

Black Hole Theatre Company Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...

, and the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival. Ross has written many segments for CBC, but is well known for his humorous segment on the radio as "Joe from Winnipeg". After "Joe from Winnipeg" aired, episodes were later published in two books, ''The Book of Joe'' and ''Joe from Winnipeg''. ''FareWel,'' is fictional comedy about a group of

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...

that are forced to take control of their own lives, when their chief leaves to gamble in Las Vegas. As the Reserve is declaring self-government and the people are no longer receiving their welfare cheques, a new chief is elected by manipulation. The text was published by Scirocco 1997, and the play premiered at Prairie Theatre Exchange (PTE) in 1996, and was remounted at PTE in 1998. ''FareWel'' was later invited to the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in 2001. ''The Gap'' is a play that portrays a love relationship between an Aboriginal man and a French woman set against the backdrop of a flood and premiered at Prairie Theatre Exchange in 2001. ''An Illustrated History of the Anishinabe'', is a three-person play that started in Winnipeg for only eight days of school performances. The play uses a healthy amount of

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

to tell the story of First Nations history on the

Prairies Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as th ...

is a word the prairie

Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

people used to describe themselves.

Plays

*''Don't Eat Any Red Snow'' *''CDED'' *Canadian Steel *''King of Saturday Night'' *''Zombies'' *''Residue of Pain'' *''fareWel'' **''Asamikawin-- ("fareWel" in Cree translation)'' *''Heart of a Distant Tribe'' *''The Gap'' **''Towaw -- ("The Gap" in Cree translation)'' *''Bereav’d of Light'' *''Bic Off!'' *''An Illustrated History of the Anishinabe'' *''Baloney!'' *''Fabric of the Sky'' *''Doubtful House''

Awards

*Winner, James Buller Award, 1999. *Winner, ''fareWel'',

for Drama, 1997. *Winner, John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer, 1996.

References

1968 births Living people 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian people of Scottish descent Métis writers Governor General's Award-winning dramatists Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian male writers {{Canada-playwright-stub