Michael John Hollingsworth (born February 5, 1950) is a Canadian playwright, theatre director and experimental

multimedia art Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

ist.Gabrielle H. Cody and Evert Sprinchorn, ''The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama, Volume 1'' (p. 622). Columbia University Press, 2007. . He is best known for ''The History of the Village of the Small Huts'', a series of 21 historical plays dramatizing and satirizing Canadian history.Michael Hollingsworth
at The Canadian Encyclopedia. Born in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, Wales, Hollingsworth moved to Toronto, Ontario with his family at the age of six. After studying fine arts at York University, Hollingsworth's first play ''Strawberry Fields'' was produced by Toronto's Factory Theatre in 1972, and his second, ''Clear Light'', was produced by Toronto Free Theatre in 1973. In 1976, he collaborated with Deanne Taylor to launch VideoCabaret, an experimental theatre company which was one of the first in Canada to integrate multimedia techniques such as video and

live music A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety an ...

. Early shows produced by VideoCabaret included Taylor's ''The Patty Rehearst Story'', ''The Bible As Told to Karen Ann Quinlan'', ''Nympho Warrior'' and ''Where's Fluffy'', Hollingsworth's '' '' and ''Electric Eye'', and adaptations of Aldous Huxley's '' Brave New World'' and

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

's ''

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

''. Following the Repatriation of the Canadian Constitution in 1982, Hollingsworth began to write ''The History of the Village of the Small Huts'', beginning with ''Part 1: New France'' in 1985; ''Part 2: The British'' followed in 1986. These two shows each consisted of four distinct one-act plays dramatizing individual personalities from the eras, while later plays in the series — ''The Mackenzie Papineau Rebellion'', ''Confederation'', ''The Red River Rebellion'', ''Canadian Pacific Scandal'', ''The Saskatchewan Rebellion'', ''Laurier'', ''The Great War'', ''The Life and Times of Mackenzie King'', ''WWII'', ''The Cold War'', ''Trudeau & the FLQ'', ''Trudeau & the PQ'' and ''The Life and Times of Brian Mulroney'' — have each been standalone works. He has won two

Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award The Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award was a Canadian literary award given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having performances in the Toronto area. The prize had a monetary value of $25,000, and wa ...

s, in 1986 for ''New France'' and in 1995 for ''The Life and Times of Mackenzie King'', and a

Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in Toronto theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to prese ...

in 2004 for ''Confederation''.

References

External links

VideoCabaret
1950 births 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Artists from Toronto Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian multimedia artists Canadian theatre directors Canadian video artists Living people People from Swansea Welsh emigrants to Canada Writers from Toronto 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers {{Canada-playwright-stub