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.