“I believe every single person in the audience of The Writer will have a story that puts them in the world of the play. Norm Foster puts us in that world with humour, seriousness, compassion, frustration and understanding. And just for fun, there is a bombshell of a revelation that will have your eyeballs popping . . . Foster gives Blake a speech to his father in Act II that is so true, so moving that it leaves one limp with emotion.”
— Lynn Slotkin, The Slotkin Letter
“Foster is so talented and comic that he adroitly assigns lines to an unseen lady next door who has the house howling with laughter.”
— Mike Keenan, Niagara Now
“The Writer provides a sometimes-gut-wrenching experience many of us have dealt with in our own lives and finds shafts of light and gentle humor throughout . . . The Writer is simply one of Norm Foster’s best efforts.”
— Mike Saunders, Fine Music
Bedtime Stories
Dear Santa
Ethan Claymore
A Foster Christmas
The Foster Season
The Foursome
The Gentleman Clothier
Hilda’s Yard
Jasper Station
Jenny’s House of Joy
Jonas and Barry in the Home
Kiss the Moon, Kiss the Sun
The Ladies Foursome
The Long Weekend
The Melville Boys
Mending Fences
Ned Durango (with Leslie Arden)
Office Hours
Old Love
On a First Name Basis
One-Actmanship
Opening Night
Outlaw
Self-Help
Sinners
Skin Flick
Storm Warning
Triple Play
Wrong for Each Other
Playwrights Canada Press
Toronto
The Writer © Copyright 2020 by Norm Foster
First edition: November 2020
Jacket illustration and design by Patrick Gray
Playwrights Canada Press
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: The writer / Norm Foster.
Names: Foster, Norm, 1949- author.
Description: A play.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200364286 | Canadiana (ebook) 20200364340 | ISBN 9780369101372 (softcover) | ISBN 9780369101389 (PDF) | ISBN 9780369101396 (EPUB) | ISBN 9780369101402 (Kindle)
Classification: LCC PS8561.O7745 W75 2020 | DDC C812/.54 — dc23
Playwrights Canada Press operates on Mississaugas of the Credit, Wendat, Anishinaabe, Métis, and Haudenosaunee land. It always was and always will be Indigenous land.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts — which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country — the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), Ontario Creates, and the Government of Canada for our publishing activities.
for Robert Brickell
The Writer was first produced at the Foster Festival in St. Catharines, Ontario, from June 19 to July 5, 2019, with the following cast and creative team:
Donald Wellner: Guy Bannerman
Blake Wellner: Jamie Williams
Director: Patricia Vanstone
Set and Costume Design: Peter Hartwell
Lighting Design: Chris Malkowski
Stage Manager: Carolyn MacKenzie
Apprentice Stage Manager: Melanie Coomber
Production Manager: David Costello
Donald Wellner
ages sixty-eight to seventy-five during the course of the play
Blake Wellner
ages forty-two to forty-nine during the course of the play
The main living area of Donald Wellner’s one-bedroom apartment. There is a small beer fridge in part of the room. There is also one couch and one chair. And there is a desk with an old typewriter on it. There is a door to the apartment and another door that leads to the bedroom and bathroom area and a third entrance that leads to the kitchen.