Audrey Dwyer

Audrey Dwyer is a Canadian writer, actor, and director. She is a former associate artistic director of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. She wrote the 2018 comedy, Calpurnia.

Audrey Dwyer
Born	Winnipeg, Manitoba
Alma mater	University of Manitoba
Notable works	Calpurnia The D Cut

Early life

Dwyer was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She studied theatre at the University of Manitoba.^[1]

Career

In 2011, Dwyer did dramaturgy for and directed Rabiayshna Productions' The Apology.^[2] From 2016 to 2017, Dwyer was the artistic director of Cow Over Moon Children's Theatre in Mississauga. She also served as the associate artistic director of both Tarragon Theatre and Nightwood Theatre in Toronto.^[1]

Dwyer's play, Calpurnia, premiered in 2018 in Toronto with Nightwood Theatre and Sulong Theatre, under Dwyer's direction. Calpurnia follows a young Jamaican-Canadian writer who is writing a script retelling To Kill A Mockingbird from the perspective of one of the book's minor characters, Calpurnia.^[3] The play tackles themes of race, class, and privilege.^[4] fu-GEN Theatre selected Calpurnia as one of their top 49 groundbreaking plays by women of colour.^[5] Also in 2018, Dwyer developed and performed in One Thing Leads to Another for Young People's Theatre.^[6]

In 2019, Dwyer was appointed associate artistic director of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.^[1] She previously acted in the RMTC's 2015 production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.^[7] In 2020, she directed the RMTC's premiere of Frances Koncan's Women of the Fur Trade.^[8] The next year, she directed The Mountaintop with RMTC. The production was streamed online to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions.^[9] The RMTC is set to put on Dwyer's play Calpurnia in 2022.^[10][11]

Dwyer wrote the 6-episode Crave series, The D Cut, which premiered in 2020.^[12] In 2020, Dwyer wrote the libretto for the opera Backstage at Carnegie Hall. Backstage was composed by Tim Brady and was based on Charlie Christian's 1939 Carnegie Hall performance with Benny Goodman's band.^[13]

Dwyer's audio-play, Come Home – The Legend Of Daddy Hall, premiered in May 2021 with Tarragon Theatre. Dwyer directed the production which featured the voices of Jesse Clark, Beau Dixon, Starr Domingue, and Jackie Richardson.^[14]

Acting credits

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008–2009	Da Kink in My Hair	Thea	Episodes: "Forced Ripe Mango" and "Di Heart of Di Matter"
2017–2018	Baroness Von Sketch Show	Misc. roles	Episodes: "Sometimes It's Good to Be the Shaman" (2018), "Is That You Karen?" (2018), and "Taco and a Hair Flip" (2017)

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Company	Ref.
2005	throwing stones		Clear Light (Toronto Fringe)	[15]
2005	Blue Planet	Hulda	Young People's Theatre	[16][17]
2006	The Babysitter	Babysitter	Theatre Direct Canada/Eldritch	[18]
2008	Black Medea	Medea	Obsidian Theatre	[19]
2009	The Tempest	Ariel	Dream in High Park	[20]
2010	The Overwhelming	Emiritha / Market Woman / Waitress	Studio 180/Canadian Stage	[21]
2012	thirsty	Julia	National Arts Centre	[22]
2013	Clybourne Park	Francine / Lena	Studio 180	[23]
2014	Good People	Kate	Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre	[24]
2015	Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike	Cassandra	Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre	[7]
2016	One Thing Leads to Another	Ensemble	Young People's Theatre	[6]
2018	Theory	Lee	Tarragon Theatre	[25]

Directing credits

Theatre

Year	Title	Company	Ref.
2011	The Apology	Rabiayshna Productions	[2]
2011	The Aftermath	Nightwood Theatre (Grounsdwell Festival)	[26]
2017	Serenity Wild	Tender Container/SummerWorks	[27]
2018	Calpurnia	Nightwood Theatre	[28]
2020	Women of the Fur Trade	Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre	[8]
2021	The Mountaintop	Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (online)	[29]
2021	Come Home – The Legend Of Daddy Hall (audio play)	Tarragon Theatre	[14]
2021	In Conclusion	Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (online - Pimootayowin: A Festival of New Work)	[30]

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Notes	Ref.
2011	Dora Mavor Moore Awards – Independent Theatre Division	Outstanding Direction	The Apology	Nominated		[31]
2015	Cayle Chernin Award	Theatre	Calpurnia	Won		[32]
2016	Dora Mavor Moore Awards – Theatre for Young Audiences	Outstanding Performance, Ensemble	One Thing Leads to Another	Won		[33]
		Outstanding New Play		Won	with Maja Ardal, Julia Tribe, and Mary Francis Moore