Writers from a Writer Ep. IX: Lorena Gale
Updated: Oct 1
Welcome back to Writers from a Writer!!
Can't believe we're on the ninth month of this series…
Speaking of 9's, my first ep is out October 9th on all streaming platforms!!!!!
Journey back through foggy school mornings with chocolate chip pancakes and late-summer backyard camping.
5 songs.
Yours on October 9th.
This month's writer was selected from a class that I was fully planning on taking, but then had to drop because apparently I was "overloading my schedule" or something (where's a time-turner when you need one?!).
But I'd already bought the play (hint at the writer), so I figured I might as well read it (duh).
September's writer is Lorena Gale, an award-winning actress and playwright from Montreal.
We'll be studying her 1995 play Angélique, which was first produced with Alberta Theatre Projects.
She spent a season with the Shaw Festival, and was the artistic director of Montreal's Black Theatre Workshop. Throughout her career, she appeared in over 130 film and TV roles (including X-Men and 21 Jump Street!), and in 2009, the Union of BC Performers created the Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction Award in her honour.
She graduated from Marianopolis College in Montreal in 1977, and studied at Concordia and the National Theatre School as well. She clearly strived for as much experience as possible, and took a 6-month course in NYC for acting. She received a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Simon Fraser University as well.
In 1988 she moved to Vancouver and in 1991 won the Jessie Award for best supporting actress in a production of The Coloured Museum.
She was an active activist (ignore how stupid that phrasing sounds), and frequently promoted Black causes, particularly through her plays.
Some of her awards include:
Outstanding Performance (The River Niger), Montreal Gazette Theatre Critics Awards (1981)
Best Supporting Actress (The Coloured Museum), Jessie Awards (1991)
du Maurier National Playwriting Competition (Angélique, 1995)
Overall, her writing really reflects fighting against oppression, as well as self-empowerment, personal autonomy, and truth will out themes.
She was clearly a very educated and skilled writer, who built connections, and, potentially most relevant here, stories that have solidified her legacy as a successful Canadian playwright.
The company she worked with for Angélique (and that I mentioned at the start), is one that I've also previously worked with.
Alberta Theatre Projects performs several plays throughout the year, and you can find their 2026-27 season guide here: 2026-27 Season – Alberta Theatre Projects.
They also regularly run a program I participated in years ago, offering a great foot-in-the-door opportunity if you are high school-aged and interested in exploring writing more: Student Writers Group – Alberta Theatre Projects.
I brought this up because as I was researching Lorena Gale, I discovered that she passed away in June of 2009 from cancer. And after hearing that she worked with the same production company I would stumble onto nearly 30 years later, I found it a little morbidly humorous that I happened to write a play about my nanny, who also passed away from cancer, 6 years after Gale did.
Anyways, that was just a random tidbit of information for you (and a hint at what my piece this month will be…)
But for now, let's focus on an excerpt from Gale's critically-acclaimed play Angélique:
"THÉRÈSE
…six hundred pounds!
IGNACE
For her? (referring to Angélique)
THÉRÈSE
Yes. Have I done well in my negotiations?
IGNACE
Not bad.
THÉRÈSE
Perhaps I will be a good entrepreneur after all.
IGNACE
Well, I wouldn't go that far.
THÉRÈSE
(Laughing) Oh, Ignace.
They exit.
ANGÉLIQUE
Bitch!
MANON laughs
You think that's funny? You won't be laughing when the same thing happens to you.
MANON
They say you come from the land of the devil. That the blackness of your skin is the blackness of your soul scorched by the fires of hell.
ANGÉLIQUE
They say that you are bloodthirsty savages. Pagan children, shameless in their nakedness. What does it matter what they say? We are here. Today!"
An excerpt alone really doesn't do the play justice (as with any excerpt of literally anything ever), but we're harping back on her advocacy we talked about before. That's a huge theme for this story especially. Particularly, I love how she blends modern-day attire with the past to represent the continuation of prejudices (racial ones especially), it's very creative (you'll have to read the play to understand that).
There's a lot more I could say about this (and every writer we've studied!!), but alas, I am only a student who dreams of writing full-time and is currently working your average 9-5 (Lord help me), and so I do not have the time or the means to turn each piece into a full-fledged deep-dive concerning everything about our writers. But, maybe, (if you stream The Storyteller… 🤞), I can do a bit more with this idea…
But for now, here's an excerpt from the piece I did with ATP:
Julie It’s probably weird, having someone else tell you a story you experienced as if you aren’t
there.
We made Grandpa go home today. He was here this whole time, never leaving your side. We
had to make him, but don’t worry, he’s taken care of.
I wish I had gotten to know you better.
Anyway, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow.
Julie begins to walk away, but stops and turns to face the Grandma, pulling a photo out of her pocket. She places it somewhere around the room.
Julie Oh, and by the way, I found this old picture of you in mom’s drawer. Everyone says I look
like you but, I have to admit, I don’t see it. I wonder if you’d think we look similar. Beat. I wish I
could wear my hair like that now, but I wouldn't know how to do it.
Grandma …
Julie exits the stage.
Grandma begins to sit up, as if her soul is leaving her body.
Looking back on that is actually a torturous experience because my writing has changed so much (I also remember writing this entire play the night before it was due because I spent 3 months writing and rewriting completely different plots and everything was turning out the same pile of trash). But, hey, if I can sort through 15-year-old me's writing without dying, maybe I can look back on shit I write now and not want to violently combust 5 years from today.
That's it from me!
Links:
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