Alex Bulmer is a Canadian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and theatre artist. Bulmer is the co-founder of the theatre companies SNIFF Inc. and Invisible Flash. She wrote the play ''Smudge'' and was a writer for the 2009

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

series ''

Cast Offs ''Cast Offs'' is a BAFTA-nominated comedy-drama mockumentary that follows a group of six disabled people sent to a remote British Island for a fictional reality show. The series is made up of six episodes, with each episode concentrating on on ...

''.

Early life and education

Bulmer was born in

Kitchener, Ontario ) , image_flag = Flag of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_shield=Coat of arms of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_blank_emblem = Logo of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , blank_emblem_type = ...

, but grew up in Puslinch. She attended

Bishops University Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Bishop of Quebec, George Mountain, who ...

and studied theatre at the Ryerson University Theatre School. While studying at Ryerson, Bulmer began to lose her vision. She left Ryerson to study voice in the UK, which she hoped would allow her to maintain a connection to theatre even with her declining visual ability. She attended the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

Career

Bulmer performed drag as Alvin Calvin Cumberbund. She also taught theatre at both Ryerson University and

George Brown College George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...

. Bulmer founded SNIFF (Sensory Narrative in Full Form) Inc., a theatre company focussed on creating works that challenge conventional uses of sensory perception in theatre. In 1996, Bulmer played Barb in Kate Barker's ''Army of Lovers?'' at

Buddies In Bad Times Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company. Based in Toronto, Ontario and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, ''Buddies in Bad Times'' is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical e ...

Theatre. In 2000, Bulmer's one-act play ''Smudge'' premiered with

Nightwood Theatre Nightwood Theatre is Canada's oldest professional women's theatre and is based in Toronto. It was founded in 1979 by Cynthia Grant, Kim Renders, Mary Vingoe, and Maureen White and was originally a collective. Though it was not the founders' o ...

under the direction of

Alisa Palmer Alisa Palmer is a Canadian theatre director and playwright. She was the artistic director of Nightwood Theatre from 1993 to 2001. Palmer is currently the artistic director of the English section of the National Theatre School of Canada. Early l ...

. The central character in ''Smudge'' has

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may ...

, like Bulmer. The production starred

Diane Flacks Diane Flacks is a Canadian comedic actress, screenwriter and playwright. Early life and education Flacks was raised in the Jewish faith. Her early education took place in Jewish parochial schools. Flacks studied drama at Leah Posluns Institu ...

, Sherry Lee Hunter, and

Kate Lynch Kate Lynch (born June 29, 1959) is a Canadian film, television and stage actress, drama teacher, theatre director and playwright. Biography In 1980 she won the Genie Award for Best Actress for ''Meatballs''. She was notably adept at improvisation ...

. ''Smudge'' was nominated for the Chalmers Canadian Play Award. In 2003, Bulmer emceed Smashing Stereotypes Productions' ''Culture Cauldron II'', a cabaret of performances inspired by disability performed at Ryerson University. Bulmer is one of the founders of Invisible Flash, a theatre company which she is currently the

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

of. She also worked as a part-time literary manager for Graeae Theatre in London. In 2009, after returning to Canada, Bulmer acted in Michael Rubenfeld and Sarah Stanley's ''The Book of Judith'', a play inspired by

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or ...

activist and artist Judith Snow, at The Theatre Centre in Toronto. Bulmer produced Cripping the Arts and Cripping the Stage in 2016, with funding from the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

, Tangled Art and Disability, Ryerson University Disability Studies, and

Harbourfront Centre Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became ...

. Cripping the Arts has since become a yearly symposium and, in 2019, featured ''Crip Shorts,'' which Bulmer co-produced. For ''Crip Shorts'', Bulmer worked with circus performer Erin Ball to make her performance accessible for the visually impaired. In 2017, Bulmer acted in Martha Ross's ''The Story'' with Common Boots Theatre. In 2019, she worked with Common Boots Theatre again, this time serving as accessibility dramaturge for Natasha Greenblatt and Yolanda Bonnell's ''The Election''. At the 2019 Toronto Fringe, Bulmer co-directed ''Scadding'' with

Jennifer Brewin Jennifer Brewin is a Canadian writer, director, and artistic director. She is known for co-creating ''The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls'' and her other work with Common Boots Theatre, formerly known as Theatre Columbus and the Caravan F ...

. Bulmer co-created the play ''May I Take Your Arm'' with Anna Camilleri, Tristan Whiston, and Katie Yealland. ''May I Take Your Arm'' premiered with Red Dress Productions in 2018. Bulmer and Red Dress Productions re-imagined ''May I Take Your Arm'' as an online performance for the 2020

Luminato Festival Luminato Festival, Toronto's International Festival of Arts and Ideas, is an annual celebration of the arts in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, launched in 2007. In its first decade, Luminato presented over 3,000 performances featuring 11,000 artists fr ...

. Bulmer developed the play ''Blind Woman in Search of a Narrative'' between 2018 and 2020 during her residency with Bodies in Translation at the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

. In April 2022, Bulmer curated the CoMotion Festival, a showcase of Deaf and disabled artists online and at Toronto's

. Her play, ''Perpetual Archaeology'', is set to premiere with Crow's Theatre under the direction of

Leah Cherniak Leah Cherniak (born 1956) is a Canadian playwright, actor, and teacher. She is a co-founder of Theatre Columbus (now called Common Boots). Early life and education Cherniak graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in 1979. She later s ...

and starring Bulmer, in June 2023.

Works

Plays

* ''Smudge'' * ''May I Take Your Arm'' - co-created with Anna Camilleri, Tristan Whiston, and Katie Yealland * ''Blind Woman in Search of a Narrative'' * ''Perpetual Archaeology''

Other

* ''

'' 6-part television series, co-written with

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films '' Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', ...

Tony Roche Anthony Dalton Roche AO MBE (born 17 May 1945) is an Australian former professional tennis player. A native of Tarcutta, Roche played junior tennis in the New South Wales regional city of Wagga Wagga. He won one Grand Slam singles title, t ...

, Jamie Campbell, and Joel Wilson (2009)

Personal life

Bulmer was diagnosed with

at age 21 and lost functioning vision in 2006 as a result. In 2003, Bulmer moved to

but returned to Toronto permanently in October 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulmer, Alex Canadian artistic directors Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Blind people from Canada Canadian theatre directors Living people Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Bishop's University alumni Toronto Metropolitan University faculty George Brown College faculty Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Disability theatre Canadian television writers Writers from Kitchener, Ontario 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian women writers Year of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people)