Lee
SG Lee (known to all simply as “Lee”) has been making theatre for over twenty years. Best known for her play “Larger than Life: The Musical” which has been performed across Western and Northern Canada as well as in Toronto, her work as a director, playwright, librettist, theatre deviser, workshop facilitator and teacher has taken her across Canada and across the Atlantic, in 2009 landing her in Saint John.
After graduating for York University with a BA in Theatre, Lee spent a number of years working in the field of theatre for education and social change, first with Second Mile Theatre in Toronto and then as Artistic Director of Yukon Educational Theatre in Whitehorse. Some highlights of those years were developing interactive plays, including Boal-based Forum Theatre pieces, dealing with domestic violence, environmental issues and young offenders; touring across the north delivering performances and workshops to schools, prisons and community halls; and working with governments, First Nations groups and even the Department of National Defense using theatre for staff and program development.
Leaving the Yukon for Vancouver, Lee became Artistic Producer and Instructor at the William Davis Centre for Actors’ Study, one of Canada’s premier professional actor training institutions. During her decade-long tenure there, she directed numerous graduating student productions (including Caryl Churchill’s “Vinegar Tom” and Theresa Rebeck’s “Does This Woman Have a Name?”) as well as teaching movement, scene study and collective creation. Her own theatre practice continued to grow as she worked both with her own company, Silk Purse Productions and with other Vancouver artists. Some highlights of her work in those years include:
The Falls of Vincent Millay: Collective Creation (Creator/Performer) for the San Francisco Fringe Festival
The Newcomer by Kate Lynch (Director) for the Women at Plays Festival, Vancouver
Ladies, Rebels, Reformers by SG Lee commissioned by the University Women’s Club of Vancouver
My Brother My Hero by Stephen Metcalfe (Director) for Hunt Productions, Vancouver
Drinking Problem by Theresa Rebeck (Director) for the Women at Plays Festival, Vancouver
Inspiration, A Love Story by SG Lee & Dan DeJaeger: Collective (Creator/Performer) for Silk Purse Productions, Vancouver
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams (Director) for Misfit Toys Productions, Vancouver
Reading Hebron by Jason Sherman: Staged Reading for Lincoln Center Theater Directors’ Lab, NY
Just Friends: A Revue (Librettist/Director) for Silk Purse Productions
Larger than Life by SG Lee & Vanessa LeBourdais (Librettist) for Western Canada Theatre & Firehall Arts Centre, Western Canada Tour
The Idle Hands Variety Show (Librettist/Director) for Silk Purse Productions,
Meanwhile, Lee continued her training, studying Viewpoints with members of SITI company, becoming a certified Hatha yoga teacher, attending the Lincolm Center Directors Lab in New York, taking workshops in improv with Keith Johnstone and clown with Robert Astle and in physical theatre with Brenda Leadlay and dance with the Joe Ink Dance Company. In 2008 she moved to England to continue her education, graduating from the University of Leeds with an MA in Theatre Making in 2009. While there, she studied with Curious Theatre and Kelmanworks, developing new skills while devising and writing both solo and group pieces. Her new play, “Jocasta” premiered at Leeds’ Workshop Theatre and continues in development.
Since her arrival in Saint John and taking up a position at Imperial Theatre, Lee has continued to work on her writing, to teach playwriting and theatre skills to youth and yoga to adults, and to explore New Brunswick’s performing arts scene. She is a member of the Playwrights’ Guild of Canada and of Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre, travels frequently to Ontario and BC to work with her scattered colleagues, and to visit her musician daughter, Avelyn Lee Waldman, in Toronto.
