George Ryga
(1932 - 1987)
Canadian playwright. Born in Deep Creek, Alberta, in July 1932. Married ; has five children. Worked on farms, in construction, and for a radio station in Edmonton. Full-time Writer since 1962. Died in Summerland, British Columbia in 1987.
Stage Works
- Indian (televised, 1962; produced Winnipeg, I974)
- Nothing But a Man (produced Vancouver, I966).
- The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (produced Vancouver, 1967; Washington, D.C., 1973 ; London, 1975).
- Grass and Wild Strawberries (produced Vancouver, 1969).
- Captives of a Faceless Drummer, music and lyrics by George Ryga (produced Vancouver, 1971).
- Sunrise on Sarah, music by George Ryga (produced Banff, 1972).
- A Portrait of Angelica (produced Banff, 1973).
- A Feast of Thunder, music by Morris Surdin (produced I973).
- Paracelsus - 1974.
- Twelve Ravens for the Sun, music by Mikis Theodorakis (produced 1975).
- Ploughmen of the Glacier (produced Vancouver, I976).
- Night Desk (1976)
- Seven Hours to Sundown (produced Edmonton, 1976).
- Beyond the Crimson Morning (1979)
- Prometheus (1982).
Radio Plays :
- A Touch of Cruelty, 1961
- Half-Caste, 1962
- Masks and Shadows, 1963
- Bread Route, 1963
- Departures, 1963
- Ballad for Bill, 1963
- The Stone Angel, 1965
- Miners, Gentlemen, and Other Hard Cases series, 1974-75
- Seasons of a Summer Day, 1975
- Advocates of Danger series, 1976.
Television Plays
- Indian, 1962
- The Storm, 1962
- Bitter Grass, 1963
- For Want of Something Better to Do, 1963
- The Tulip Garden, 1963
- Two Soldiers, 1963
- The Pear Tree. 1963
- Man Alive, 1965
- The Kamloops Incident, 1965
- A Carpenter by Trade (documentary), 1967
- The Manipulators series (2 scripts), 1968
- The Name of the Game series (1 script), 1969
- Ninth Summer, 1972
- The Mountains (documentary), 1973
- The Ballad of Iwan Lepa (documentary), 1976.
Novels
- Hungry Hills. Toronto, Longman, 1963; London, Joseph, 1965.
- Ballad of a Stone-Picker. Toronto, Macmillan, and London, Joseph, 1966.
- Night Desk. Vancouver, Talonbooks, 1976.
Critical Study
- Four Canadian Playwrights by Mayor Moore, Toronto,
Holt Rinehart, 1973.