Making It Up (One Playwright to Another)
Pictured l to r: Norm Reynolds; John Bertram; Lesley Ballantyne (photo by Cameron Ballantyne)
Streaming on demand at The Melbourne Fringe Festival October 1-20, 2024. https://melbournefringe.com.au/event/making-it-up-one-playwright-to-another/
Nominated for 4 2023 BroadwayWorld Awards Philadelphia. Best Play; Best New Play; Best Performance; Best Direction of a play.
“Fringie” Award Winner: Digital Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2023
WINNER! BEST in series (Bring Your Own Virtual Venue) Award- Hamilton Fringe Festival 2022
2023:
Watford Fringe Festival
Greater Manchester Fringe
Vancouver Fringe
"... sharp script... excellent performance... a very well shot and edited piece, and... a haunting memory of... Edward Albee."- Richard Ouzounian
Some scripts take a lifetime to write….
Join writer and actor Norm Reynolds as he makes his way through appointments with destiny in the realms of academia, finance, and the theatre- including fateful encounters with playwright Edward Albee.
Directed by Dora Mavor Moore Award-winner Lesley Ballantyne, and recorded by national festival award-winning filmmaker John Bertram.
Put Up Your Hand
(Graphic design by Natalia Reis; Photo by Sandra Huh)
What's School for? In six monologues, (and one scene for two characters), that eternal question is posed by different characters, including a young parent on her child's first day of classes, a befuddled executive giving advice to a directionless teenager, the "professional student", a teacher having a nervous breakdown in front of her class, and an octegenarian valedictorian.
“…The actors, they’re all good. In one hour, I was moved, I laughed. And remember the name Norm Reynolds. I think we’re going to hear from him again.”- Richard Ouzounian, Later the Same Day, CBC Radio
Summerworks Toronto 1991
Word Works Festival Solar Stage Toronto 1992
OISE University of Toronto 2010
Red Sandcastle Theatre 2014
The Good-bye Play
“…a really wonderful monologue…”- Edward Albee
Some relationships never die. Leo and Patricia have split. Patricia has come back for closure. Leo isn't having any of it. A comedy about grievances, petty and great, and the difficulty of finally saying good-bye.
Staged Readings at Theatre Aurora- 2010; Theatre Starts- 2011
Top Ten Finalist- Dubuque Fine Arts Players One Act Playwriting Contest, 2007
Semi-Finalist- Shortlisted- Short and Sweet Play Festival, 2007
10 Minute Play: Two-Hander is a fast-paced exploration of the friendship, or competition, between Trey and Daniel, two actors. Trey is nice, but struggling. Daniel is ambitious, and cruel in his desire to succeed. Will Daniel obliterate Trey from the profession, or will Trey exact his revenge?
Staged at the Newmarket National Ten Minute Play Festival 2017
“I love all the pieces of this story, which builds inevitably to a powerful, searing conclusion - Two-Hander dramatizes the competitive, codependent, occasionally caustic relationship between two artists trying to make a name for themselves. Sometimes the people who should support us most are the ones who tear us down, and Reynolds understands this well. Like the name suggests, this is a solid play for two actors and would no doubt pose a compelling challenge for a director to tackle.”- Sam Heyman, New Play Exchange
10 Minute Play: Summary: Set in the early 2000’s, Claudia worries about crossing a line with her students, so she lies and tells them she’s straight. For solace and advice, she reaches out to her colleague Annie. Annie’s trying to be "gay positive" about it; she’s just not positive enough. In the end, Annie's own crossing the line with sex and sexuality catches up with her.
“An incisive look at the conversations and feelings navigated by queers of many an age, Gay Positive dramatizes the attitudes and anxieties surrounding being transparently yourself in the workplace, particularly within education. Framing the play as a turn-of-the-century tale, Norm Reynolds distinguishes his characters' view points in a way that both humanizes them and prompts audiences to wonder: How far, really, have we come since 2000? Is the law truly on our side? Or will the unwritten rules of self-censure in schools always reign supreme? Thoughtful, stellar work.” - Sam Heyman, New Play Exchange
Toronto Cold Reads 2018
Short Listed- Short & Sweet Festival, Australia- 2018
Patrick is a good father to Sam, but he doesn’t like doing it. Bernard notices. It’s an audacious idea: take your best friend’s child off his hands.
Who is the better father? The godfather who offers to raise Sam, or his real dad?
May the best father win….
Readings:
Playwrights Guild of Canada Craft Bites 2021
Toronto Cold Reads 2016