Ned Dickens (born 1959 in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

) is a Canadian playwright. He authored 16 plays, including the ''City of Wine'' series, a seven-play cycle which "traces the rise and fall of the ancient city of Thebes, from its founding by Cadmus and Harmonia to its demise at the

siege of Troy The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

Life

Dickens was born in 1959 in

and raised in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. His father was a teacher who taught in boarding schools. For 10 years, he worked in architecture. He was the director for the Kensington Youth Theatre and Employment Skills program in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, using theatre as a training tool for street youth. Dickens lives in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

and has three children.

Playwriting career

In 1994, Dickens turned to playwriting from acting when he developed advanced

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

. He was commissioned by Die In Debt Theatre to write a new version of

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People, fictional characters and language * Seneca (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname : :* Seneca the Elder (c. 54 BC – c. AD 39), a Roman rhetorician, writer and father ...

's ''

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. ...

'' . After writing the piece and winning a

Dora Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, Dance in Canada, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after ...

, Dickens wanted to further explore the story of

Jocasta In Greek mythology, Jocasta (), also rendered as Iocaste ( ) and EpicasteHomer, ''Odyssey'', Vol. XI11.271/ref> (; ), was Queen of Thebes through her marriages to Laius and her son, Oedipus. She is best known for her role in the myths surroundi ...

's mother. He then became fascinated by "the aftermath of Oedipus's downfall." After six years, Dickens had expanded ''Oedipus'' to become a trilogy and decided to "dramatize the entire history of Thebes." In total, the series took 15 years to write. To support himself during this time, Dickens taught public speaking to politicians and worked in construction, injuring his hand in an accident. In May 2009, Dickens's seven-play cycle, ''City of Wine'', debuted at Toronto's

Theatre Passe Muraille Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is on Ryerson Avenue in the Alexandra Park neighbourhood of Toronto. Brief history One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille ("theat ...

. The play involved 233 student actors, 172 professional actors, and 110 theatre artists and was produced by Nightswimming, an independent theatre company. In its entirety, the play's running time is 12 hours. Robert Kushman, in the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', described it as a "dizzyingly ambitious feat of producing and a dizzying achievement."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickens, Ned Writers from British Columbia Living people Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 1959 births Writers from Kingston, Ontario 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers