Lib Spry
{{Short description|Canadian director, playwright, and academic}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lib Spry
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| years_active = 1986-pres.
| known_for = Co-founder of Company of Sirens
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| parents = {{plainlist|
- Graham Spry (father)
- Irene Spry (mother)
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Lib Spry is a Canadian director, playwright, and academic. She is a co-founder of Company of Sirens and Straight Stitching Productions and served as the artistic director of Passionate Balance.
Career
In 1986, Spry co-founded the feminist theatre company, Company of Sirens, with Lina Chartrand, Aida Jordão, Catherine Glen, Shawna Dempsey, and Cynthia Grant.{{Cite web|last=McGuigan|first=Lynn|date=2018-01-19|title=Company of Sirens|url=http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Company%20of%20Sirens|access-date=2020-07-29|website=Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia|publisher=Athabasca University}} With Company of Sirens, Spry created the play, The Working People's Picture Show, which was first staged in 1987.{{cite magazine|last=Bell|first=Laurie|date=1987|title=Working People's Popular Appeal|url=http://broadsidefeminist.com/images/issues/Broadside0806.pdf|magazine=Broadside: A Feminist Review|access-date=2020-07-29}}{{Cite news|last=Sweet|first=Lois|date=1987-02-27|title=Show portrays women's issues in an entertaining manner: [FIN Edition]|page=B4|work=Toronto Star|issn=0319-0781}} With Shirley Barrie, Spry co-founded Straight Stitching Productions in 1989.{{Cite web|last=Nothof|first=Anne|date=2019-01-31|title=Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia - Barrie, Shirley|url=http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Barrie,%20Shirley|access-date=2022-01-04|website=www.canadiantheatre.com}} Spry served as the artistic director of the Ottawa-based theatre company, Passionate Balance. In 1992, she co-developed, with Rob Thompson, the play Collateral Damages. The play used techniques of the Theatre of the Oppressed.{{Cite journal|last=Hawkins|first=Mary|date=1992|title=Collateral Damages: Within and Without|journal=Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada|volume=27|issue=4|pages=11}}
In 2012, Spry directed Where the Blood Mixes by Kevin Loring.{{Cite web|last=Donnelly|first=Pat|date=2012-09-13|title=Where the Blood Mixes Traces the Aftermath of First Nations Residential Schools|url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/theatre/where-the-blood-mixes-traces-the-aftermath-of-first-nations-residential-schools|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Montreal Gazette|language=en-CA}}{{Cite web|last=Murdoch|first=Chandra|date=2012-09-17|title=Review: Where the Blood Mixes|url=https://cultmtl.com/2012/09/review-where-the-blood-mixes-kevin-loring-lib-spry/|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Cult MTL|language=en-US}} In 2013, Spry was set to direct the mini-musical, Marg Szkaluba (Pissy's Wife), written by Ron Chambers, at the Rialto Theatre in Montreal; however, the show was indefinitely postponed when the show's star, Carolyn Fe, became ill.{{Cite web|last=Donnelly|first=Pat|date=2013-05-15|title=Blues Singer Carolyn Fe Cancels Pissy's Wife Due to Allergies|url=https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/theatre/blues-singer-carolyn-fe-cancels-pissys-wife-due-to-allergies|access-date=2022-01-05|website=montrealgazette|language=en-CA}}
Spry has taught at the University of Ottawa, Queen's University, and Concordia University. She currently teaches at McGill University.{{Cite web|last=Nothof|first=Anne|date=2020-06-12|title=Spry, Lib|url=https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Spry,%20Lib|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia}}
Personal life
Spry has an MFA in creative writing from Goddard College and a PhD in cultural studies from Queen's University. Her parents are Graham and Irene Spry and she has two brothers named Robin and Richard.{{Cite web|date=1998-12-18|title=Irene Mary SPRY Obituary (1998) The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/theglobeandmail/name/irene-spry-obituary?pid=189703754|access-date=2022-01-06|website=Legacy.com}}
Plays
- Bungsu and the Big Snake
- Collateral Damages (co-written with Rob Thompson)
- Peace and Plenty (co-written with Peggy Sample)
- Playing Robin Hood
- A Princess Never Should
- Trance for Matron{{Cite web|last=Chan|first=Crystal|date=2013-05-30|title=Stretch your festival stomach at the Montreal Fringe!|url=https://nightlife.ca/2013/05/30/stretch-your-festival-stomach-montreal-fringe/|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Nightlife|language=en-CA}}
- The Working People's Picture Show (co-created with Lina Chartrand, Aida Jordão, Catherine Glen, Shawna Dempsey, and Cynthia Grant)
References
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Category:Canadian women dramatists and playwrights
Category:Date of birth missing (living people)
Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
Category:Canadian theatre directors
Category:Canadian women theatre directors
Category:Canadian artistic directors
Category:Goddard College alumni