Playwright, MP , NDP Culture Critic Wendy Lill to launch York U. Series with "Playwright as Politician" Address, Readings from her Award-Winning Plays

TORONTO, September 25, 1998 -- Playwright, MP and NDP Culture Critic Wendy Lill will share what she has learned from her journey from the theatrical to the political stage during her address The Playwright as Politician, which launches the Theatrical Trans/Formations series at York University Monday, Sept. 28.

Lill's address, which runs from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Harry Crowe Room, 109 Atkinson College, on the main Keele campus, will explore the relationship between theatre and politics. Lill -- a York University graduate -- will also read from her award-winning plays such as All Fall Down, The Glace Bay Miners' Museum and Corker.

Her address kicks-off Trans/Forming Theatre: From "Amateur Pastime" to Cultural Industry, the first in a series of free public events entitled: Theatrical Trans/Formations, presented by York University's Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. From September through March, some of Canada's best known theatre and dance practitioners will come to York University to share with the community, and in some cases show how theatre has transformed Canadian culture.

A panel discussion entitled The Business of Canadian Culture, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m., in York's Burton Auditorium, will precede Lill's address. It will focus on the growth of Canadian theatre from its amateur status in the 1960s to its current stature as one of Canada's primary cultural industries. Panel participants are: former Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) National Director Keith Kelly and Pat Bradley, Executive Director of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and CCA President. The York University Robarts Chair for Canadian Studies, Prof. Robert Wallace, will moderate the panel session.

Established in 1984, York University's Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies develops and offers workshops and conferences on major Canadian cultural and social policy issues ranging from constitutional reform to aboriginal rights to health reform.

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For more information, or a detailed schedule of events please contact:

Professor Robert Wallace
Robarts Chair in Canadian Studies
York University
(416) 736-5499

Cheryl Dobinson
Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies
York University
(416) 736-5499

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca

Ken Turriff
Media Relations Officer
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/064/98