Jason Sherman (born July 28, 1962 in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
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
screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
.
After graduating from the creative writing program at
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...
in 1985, Sherman co-founded What Publishing with
Kevin Connolly, which produced ''what'', a literary magazine that he edited from 1985 to 1990. Before establishing himself as a dramatist, Sherman's journalistic works such as reviews, essays, and interviews appeared in various publications, including ''
The Globe and Mail'', ''
Canadian Theatre Review'' and ''
Theatrum''.
He edited two anthologies for
Coach House Press
Coach House Books is an independent book publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Coach House publishes experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundar ...
, ''Canadian Brash'' (1991) and ''Solo'' (1993), and was playwright-in-residence at
Tarragon Theatre
The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country. from 1992 to 1999.
Sherman's first professional productions were ''A Place Like Pamela'' (1991) and ''To Cry is Not So'' (1991), followed by ''The League of Nathans'' (1992, published in book form in 1996), which won a
Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award (1993), and was nominated for the
Governor General's Award for English language drama
The Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama was divided.
Because the aw ...
. Among his many other plays is ''
Three in the Back, Two in the Head'', which won the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama (1995), and ''
Reading Hebron
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
'', which had its most recent production at London's Orange Tree Theatre in March 2011.
In the November 2007 issue of ''
This Magazine
''This Magazine'' is an independent alternative Canadian political magazine.
History and profile
The magazine was launched "by a gang of school activists" in April 1966 as ''This Magazine Is About Schools'', a journal covering political issues ...
'', Sherman wrote an article explaining why he would no longer be writing stage plays. Since then, he has written extensively for television and radio, including the
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
series ''
Afghanada'' and the television series ''
Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures'' and ''
The Best Laid Plans''.
[Bill Brioux]
"‘Best Laid Plans’ turns satiric focus on politics"
''Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'', January 4, 2014.
In 2021 he released ''
My Tree'', a documentary film about his trip to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
to locate a tree that was planted in his name decades earlier. The film premiered at the 2021
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ont ...
, and received a
Canadian Screen Award
The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) ...
nomination for
Best Feature Length Documentary at the
10th Canadian Screen Awards
The 10th Canadian Screen Awards were held on April 10, 2022, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2021.Etan Vlessing"Maitreyi Ramakrishnan to Receive Canadian Screen Awards Special Honor" ''The Hollyw ...
in 2022.
[Brent Furdyk]
"2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack"
''ET Canada
''ET Canada'' (previously referred to as ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series, using the same format as the American entertainment newsmagazine ''Entertainment Tonight''. ''ET Canada'' is a broadc ...
'', February 15, 2022.
Works
* ''A Place Like Pamela'' (1991)
* ''To Cry is Not So'' (1991)
* ''The League of Nathans'' (1992)
* ''What the Russians Say'' (1993)
* ''Field'' (1993)
* ''The Merchant of Showboat'' (1993)
* ''Three in the Back, Two in the Head'' (1994)
* ''Reading Hebron'' (1995)
* ''The Retreat'' (1996)
* ''None is Too Many'' (1997)
* ''
Patience
(or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when face ...
'' (1998)
* ''It's All True'' (1999)
* ''An Acre of Time'' (1999/2000)
* ''
Afghanada'' (2006–11)
* ''
Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures'' (2010)
* ''
We Were Children'' (2012); screenplay
* ''
La Ronde La Ronde may refer to:
Geography
* La Ronde, Charente-Maritime, a commune in the Charente-Maritime ''département'', France
* La Ronde River, on the Caribbean island of Dominica
* La Ronde (amusement park), Montreal, Quebec, Canada
*A La Ronde, an ...
'' (2013) Soulpepper, adaptation by Jason Sherman
*''Copy That'' (2019); commissioned for Tarragon Theatre
References
External links
Jason Sherman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Jason
1962 births
20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
Canadian male screenwriters
Jewish Canadian writers
Living people
Governor General's Award-winning dramatists
Canadian television writers
Canadian radio writers
Canadian male dramatists and playwrights
Writers from Montreal
20th-century Canadian male writers
Canadian male television writers
21st-century Canadian screenwriters
21st-century Canadian male writers