Item MS-2-777, Box 6, Folder 1, Item 1 - Living curiosities : the story of Anna Swan / by Mary Vingoe : [manuscript]

Mary Vingoe is a Canadian playwright, actor and theatre director. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she graduated from Dalhousie University and received the University Medal in Theatre in 1976. She completed her MA in Drama at the University of Toronto in 1977 and lived in Toronto for 13 years before returning to Nova Scotia. She was the founding Artistic Director of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Ottawa, and a co-founder of the Toronto feminist theatre company Nightwood Theatre, Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, and Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax.

Vingoe has directed at major theatres across the country and has acted and written for stage, radio, television and film. She has been closely associated with the work of many Canadian playwrights, in particular Wendy Lill, for whom she has directed five world premieres, four of which were nominated for Governor General’s awards. She has received the Mayor’s Award for Achievement in Theatre, the Portia White Prize, and the Robert E. Merritt Award for Achievement in Theatre. In 2011 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.