7 Stories

Playwright, actor, and director Morris Panych was born in 1952 in Calgary and grew up in Edmonton, Alberta. He received a diploma in Radio and Television Arts from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, and then studied creative writing at the University of British Columbia (BFA, 1977), and theatre at East 15 acting school in London, England. Panych has directed over ninety productions across Canada, and written thirty plays that have been produced throughout Canada, Britain, the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand in a dozen languages. Panych came to public attention for his play Last Call: A Post-Nuclear Cabaret, which he wrote and starred in. The show was revised for CBC television, bringing Panych to national attention. His play Vigil (renamed Auntie & Me) premiered at the Belfry Theatre in 1995 and played in London’s West End in 2003 and in Paris in 2004 as well as in the US and in more than 30 Canadian cities. What many consider his first major play and one of his best, 7 Stories, was staged in Japan in 2003. In 1998, Panych co-created and directed The Overcoat, a physical theatre piece in which choreographed movement and music function in place of dialogue. This production toured across Canada. Panych also directed the television version of The Overcoat. His plays continue to receive international productions.