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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 studied at École Jacques Lecoq, where she met Martha Ross.

Career

Cherniak co-founded Theatre Columbus with Martha Ross in 1984. Originally, the company was called The Gargoils. In 2015, Theatre Columbus changed their name to Common Boots Theatre.

Teaching

Beginning in 1985, Cherniak taught clown at the National Theatre School. In 2001, Cherniak began teaching dance at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and George Brown College.

Directorial credits

Theatre

• Up Against the Wallpaper — Nightwood Theatre (1989)
• The Tell-Tale Heart — Theatre Columbus (1995)
• Froth (1996)
• Three Birds Alighting on a Field — George Brown Theatre (2000)
• Lonely Nights and Other Stories — Theatre Columbus, co-directed with Maggie Huculak (2001)
• Rue Alridge — Tarragon Theatre (2004)
• Edward the “Crazy Man” — Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People (2008)
• 6 Essential Questions — Factory Theatre (2014)
• Clown — Ryerson School of Performance (2018)
• The Ward Cabaret — Harbourfront Centre Theatre (2020), co-directed with David Buchbinder
• Perpetual Archaeology — Crow's Theatre written by and starring Alex Bulmer (June 2023)

Film

• Things Dead People Say — short film (2020)

Acting credits

Theatre

Plays

• Until We Part — co-written with Martha Ross
• The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine — co-written with Robert Morgan and Martha Ross
• Still Clowning — co-written with Martha Ross
• The Fragments — co-written with Suvendrini Lena and Trevor Schwellnus
• The Theory of Relatives — co-written with Daniel Brooks, Diane Flacks, Richard Greenblatt, Leslie Lester, and Allan Merovitz
• The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls — co-written with Jennifer Brewin, Martha Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald, and Alisa Palmer
• More Fine Girls — co-written with Brewin, Ross, MacDonald, and Palmer, sequel to The Attic, The Pearls, and Three Fine Girls
• Scadding — co-created with Jennifer Brewin, Alex Bulmer, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, John Gzowski, Maggie Huculak, Anand Rajaram, Jenny Salisbury and Stephon Smith
• The Betrayal — co-written with Oliver Dennis, Maggie Huculak, Robert Morgan, Martha Ross and Michael Simpson

Awards

References

1. ^ Lumley, Elizabeth (2000). Canadian Who's Who 2004 : Volume XXXIX. University of Toronto Press. pp. 235–236.
2. ^ Crew, Robert (1994-03-15). "Award-winning stage duo honor clown roots Two troupers take a darkly comic view of success". Toronto Star. p. C5 – via ProQuest.
3. "About the Company". Common Boots Theatre. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
4. Wagner, Vit (1995-08-18). "Theatre forecast fair to good". Toronto Star. p. D8 – via ProQuest.
5. Walker, Susan (1996-12-01). "On the shopping block". Toronto Star. p. B7. ISSN 0319-0781.
6. Kaplan, John (2000-11-16). "Art Smarts". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
7. Crew, Robert (2001-06-07). "Actor navigates the mental map; Maggie Huculak continues to grow with Theatre Columbus". Toronto Star. p. G07 – via ProQuest.
8. Kaplan, Jon (2004-02-26). "Rune's tune". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
9. Maga, Carly (2011-04-25). "From the Street to the Storybook in Edward the "Crazy Man"". Torontoist. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
10. BWW News Desk (2014-03-01). "Factory Theatre Presents World Premiere of 6 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS by Priscila Uppal, Now thru 3/30". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
11. Eeswaran, Xavier (2018-10-30). "Clowns aren't all fun and games for Ryerson's actors". The Eyeopener. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
12. Teodoro, Jose (2019-12-18). "The Ward Cabaret is a vibrant celebration of cultural diversity through music". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
13. Wild, Stephi (2022-06-01). "Crow's Theatre Announces 2022-23 Season". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
14. Sumi, Glenn (2020-07-01). "8 Fringe Collective artists to watch (or hear)". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
15. ^ Taylor, Kate (1995-03-03). "A remarkable balancing act of comedy and drama". The Globe and Mail. p. D9 – via ProQuest.
16. Kaplan, Jon (2015-05-26). "Review: The Dybbuk". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
17. Maga, Carly (2018-03-17). "Desire for comedy trumps message in Soulpepper adaptation of Orwell classic Animal Farm". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
18. ^ Sumi, Glenn (2019-07-06). "Fringe review: Scadding". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
19. Morrow, Martin (2016-02-09). "Cowboy Versus Samurai, Ernest Versus Ernestine". Torontoist. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
20. Wagner, Vit (March 16, 1994). "Still: it's exclusive clowning". Toronto Star. p. D1.
21. McKeown, Lisa (2019-11-24). "Here Are The Fragments is a powerful immersive show". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
22. ^ Chapman, Geoff (1994-03-08). "One-man show in running for Chalmers play prize". Toronto Star. p. F5 – via ProQuest.
23. Nestruck, J. Kelly (2011-03-09). "They can go home again". The Globe and Mail. p. R1 – via ProQuest.
24. ^ Wagner, Vit (1999-05-18). "Eighth Chalmers for Walker ; Playwright wins national arts award second year in a row". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781 – via ProQuest.
25. Conlogue, Ray (1987-06-23). "Mikado, B-Movie big Dora winners". The Globe and Mail. p. D8 – via ProQuest.
26. Crew, Robert (1988-05-11). "CentreStage play tops Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. p. C1 – via ProQuest.
27. Vinceni, Isabel (1989-05-13). "And the Dora nominees are". The Globe and Mail. p. C6 – via ProQuest.
28. Conlogue, Ray (1990-05-15). "Dora nominations harvested from sparse crop of new plays". Globe and Mail. p. A19 – via ProQuest.
29. Friedlander, Mira (1991-06-23). "Awards spotlight theatre's top talent". Toronto Star. p. C1.
30. "Dora nominations list". Toronto Star. 1994-05-18. p. D19.
31. "Nominations for '95 Dora Awards". Toronto Star. 1995-05-13. p. J13 – via ProQuest.
32. Crew, Robert (1996-03-14). "New writers contest Chalmers play awards". Toronto Star. p. D4 – via ProQuest.
33. Kirchhoff, H J (1996-05-17). "Harbourfront Centre tops Dora list: Captures 23 nominations, Canadian Stage is second with 17". The Globe and Mail. p. C5.
34. "Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. 1998-05-27 – via ProQuest.
35. "Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. 2003-05-22. p. A35 – via ProQuest.
36. "2005 Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star. 2005-06-09. p. A23.

• Living people
• University of Toronto alumni
• Academic staff of Toronto Metropolitan University
• Academic staff of the National Theatre School of Canada
• Academic staff of George Brown College
• L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq alumni
• 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
• 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
• Canadian women dramatists and playwrights
• 1956 births
• Canadian theatre directors
• Canadian women theatre directors
• Dora Mavor Moore Award winners
• 20th-century Canadian women writers
• 21st-century Canadian women writers