John Murrell, OC, AOE (born October 15, 1945 – November 11, 2019) was an American-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Life and career

Born in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the nort ...

, Murrell moved to

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

after graduating from

Southwestern University Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest college or university in Texas. Southwester ...

Georgetown, Texas Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 67,176 at the 2020 census. It is 30 miles (48 km) north of Austin. Founded in 1875 from four existing colleges, the oldest of ...

with a BFA in 1968. He moved to Canada to avoid the draft, studying at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being inst ...

. In 2002 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

and awarded the

Alberta Order of Excellence The Alberta Order of Excellence (french: Ordre d'excellence de l'Alberta) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Alberta. Instituted in 1979 when Lieutenant Governor Frank C. Lynch-Staunton granted royal assent to the Alber ...

. In 2008, he received the

Governor General's Performing Arts Award A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts. for which he was the subject of a

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

animated short Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

Cam Christiansen Cam Christiansen is an award winning Canadian filmmaker, most noted for his 2017 feature documentary film ''Wall''.Eric Volmers"Cam Christiansen, David Hare and the NFB break down barriers with animated 'essay' Wall" ''Calgary Herald'', September 1 ...

entitled ''The Real Place.'' Murrell also translated some

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and French works.

Original plays by John Murrell

* ''Haydn's Head'' (1974) * ''Power in the Blood'' (1975) * ''Waiting for the Parade'' (1977) * ''Memoir'' (1977) * ''Farther West'' (1982) * ''New World'' (1984) * ''October'' (1988) * ''Democracy'' (1991) * ''The Faraway Nearby'' (1994) * ''Death in New Orleans'' (1998) * ''Taking Shakespeare'' (2012)

Translations/adaptations by John Murrell

* ''Mandragola'' (after Machiavelli) (1978) * ''Uncle Vanya'' (after

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career a ...

) (1978) * ''Bajazet'' (after

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

) (1979) * ''The Seagull'' (after

) (1980) * ''Divorcons'' (after Sardou) (1983) * ''The Master Builder'' (after

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

) (1983) * ''Oedipus the King'' (after

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

) (1988) * ''The Four Lives of Marie'' (after Carole Frechette) (1996) * ''The Cherry Orchard'' (after

) (1998) * ''The Odyssey'' (after

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...

) (2001) * ''The Doll House'' (after

) (2001) * ''The Human Voice'' (after

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

) (2004)

References

External links

Bio
from the Encyclopedia of Canadian Theatre. 1945 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Members of the Alberta Order of Excellence Officers of the Order of Canada People from Lubbock, Texas American expatriate writers in Canada Vietnam War draft evaders Southwestern University alumni Governor General's Performing Arts Award winners Opera librettists Writers from Texas Writers from Alberta Canadian librettists Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers {{Canada-playwright-stub