GCTC announces Ottawa playwright Lawrence Aronovitch as Playwright in Residence.

The Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) welcomes Ottawa playwright Lawrence Aronovitch as Playwright in Residence. This position, integral to the company’s new play development mandate, is funded by the Ontario Arts Council’s Playwriting Residency program.

All info here was taken directly from the official release supplied by the GCTC — but you can listen to our exclusive chat with Lawrence Aronovitch as part of the latest episode of Talking Theatre.

The Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) welcomes Ottawa playwright Lawrence Aronovitch as Playwright in Residence. This position, integral to the company’s new play development mandate, is funded by the Ontario Arts Council’s Playwriting Residency program.

During his residency with GCTC, Aronovitch will focus on two works in development, currently titled Ultrasound and Bespoken, respectively. These works explore very different aspects of life in the gay community as it evolves in Canada. Aronovitch says, I try to define what it means to create ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ theatre at a time when sexual orientation has become fairly normalized in our society. What is the impact of this change on a community that has begun to move beyond identity politics?”

The playwriting residency includes regular meetings with GCTC’s new Artistic Director, Eric Coates, who will provide feedback and constructive criticism of the works-in-progress. “Our mandate is to provoke ‘…examination of Canadian life and our place in the world’.” says Coates. “For many Canadians, the idea of identity politics is tied only to career or family. Lawrence is asking us to look at the role of sexuality and what happens when we undergo a seismic societal shift. This is the stuff that makes great theatre.”

A native of Montreal, Lawrence Aronovitch began his career in the U.S. space program after graduating from Harvard University with a degree in history and science. His playwriting career took flight in 2010 with The Lavender Railroad, which was nominated for Capital Critic and Rideau awards. He has studied playwriting with Daniel MacIvor, Paula Danckert, Jack Paterson, Jackie Torrens and Joël Beddows. In addition to his work as a playwright, he has served as Artistic Director of Toto Too Theatre in Ottawa and as a member of the advisory board for Canada’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival and currently chairs the board of Evolution Theatre. His most recent play, Late, was produced by New Theatre of Ottawa in May 2012.

Theatre-goers who are interested in his work can see his new play The Notebooks of Marie Curie, scheduled for production with Plosive Productions at the Gladstone in March 2013.

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