Shirley Barrie (1945-2018) was a Canadian writer. She was the co-founder of the Wakefield Tricycle Company and Tricycle Theatre. Her plays include ''Straight Stitching'', ''Carrying the Calf'', and ''Tripping Through Time''.

Early life and education

Barrie was born on September 30 in 1945 in

Tillsonburg Tillsonburg is a town in Oxford County, Ontario, Canada with a population of 18,615 located about 50 kilometres southeast of London, on Highway 3 at the junction of Highway 19. History Prior to European settlement, the present site of Tillso ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. She was a member of the University Alumnae Dramatic Club at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. Barrie attended Western University in London, Ontario and

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

in Ottawa. While at Carleton, Barrie co-founded a college theatre group called Sock 'n' Buskin with Ken Chubb, who she would later marry.

Career

In 1972, Barrie co-founded the Wakefield Tricycle Company in London, England with husband Ken Chubb. They named the company in reference to medieval mystery plays and a pub in King's Cross. In 1980, the two set up the Tricycle Theatre, dropping Wakefield from the name, at Kilburn High Road. Until 1984, Barrie was an associate director of Tricycle Theatre. After returning to Toronto, Barrie and

Lib Spry Lib Spry is a Canadian director, playwright, and academic. She is a co-founder of Company of Sirens and Straight Stitching Productions and served as the artistic director of Passionate Balance. Career In 1986, Spry co-founded the feminist thea ...

founded Straight Stitching Productions in 1989. Straight Stitching Productions produced Barrie's play ''Straight Stitching'', about immigrant women working in the garment industry. The show featured songs by Arlene Mantle. ''Straight Stitching'' went on to become a runner-up for the

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 ...

. Straight Stitching Productions later produced ''Carrying the Calf'', a play for children addressing violence against women from the perspective of young women attending a self-defense class. Barrie was inspired to write the play after reading a

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

article that claimed that, "81% of Canadian female university students admit to having experienced psychological, sexual or physical abuse on a date". ''Carrying the Calf'' won a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...

for outstanding play for young audiences in 1992. Working with the Workman Theatre Project, a theatre company that integrates people with

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

, Barrie created the play ''Tripping Through Time'' in 1993. In the show, audiences are immersed in a mental asylum and given diagnoses at random. The play dramatizes experiences at the

Queen Street Mental Health Centre The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH, pronounced , french: Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale) is a psychiatric teaching hospital located in Toronto and ten community locations throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. It re ...

from 1850 to the present.

Awards and nominations

Works

Plays: * ''The Adventures of Super Granny and the Kid'' *''Beautiful Lady, Tell Me...'' *''Brigid Bonfast: Space Scientist'' *''Choices'' *''The Girl in the Flower Basket'' *''In the Midst of Death'' * ''Topsy Turvy'' * ''Straight Stitching'' * ''Shusha And The Story Snatcher'' * ''Riders Of The Sea'' * ''Jack Sheppard's Back'' * ''Carrying the Calf'' * ''What if...?'' * ''Two Tonic'' * ''The Pear is Ripe'' * ''Revelation'' *''Reflections'' *''Riders of the Sea'' *''Sonjo & the Thundergod'' * ''Hansel and Gretel'' * ''Beautiful Lady, Tell Me...'' * ''Tripping Through Time'' * ''Measure Of The World'' * ''Queen Marie'' * ''I Am Marguerite'' *''Marguerite de Roberval'' As editor: * ''Prepare to Embark: Six Theatrical Voyages for Young Adults''

Personal life

Barrie was married to Ken Chubb. The two returned from London to live in Canada in 1985. They had three children: Alexis, Robin, and Yiwen. Barrie died at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto on April 15, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrie, Shirley 1945 births 2018 deaths Canadian women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Dora Mavor Moore Award winners People from Tillsonburg Carleton University alumni University of Western Ontario alumni