"Written by Paul Gross ..."

Paul has received several awards for his writing for stage and screen. Details are on our FAQ page.

Film/TV

In This Corner 1985

Gross Misconduct 1993

due South

• All the Queen's Horses (with John Krizanc and Paul Quarrington) 1996
• Red, White or Blue (with John Krizanc) 1996
• Burning down the House 1997, Mountie on the Bounty 1998 and Call of the Wild 1999 (with R B Carney)

Men With Brooms (with John Krizanc) 2002

H2O (with John Krizanc) 2004

H2O II: The Trojan Horse (with John Krizanc)

Passchendaele (2008)

Stage

1982 - 1983

Theatre Network, Edmonton, Alberta

The Deer and the Antelope Play

Characters: Woody, CC, Mary, Jimmy
Run: 17th March to 2nd April

Toronto Free Theatre

The Dead of Winter

Characters: Katlan, Lucy, Walker, Maitland, Byron
Run: 13th October to 31st October

"What distinguishes The Dead Of Winter from the ordinary run of family gothics is the way Gross has given the Butlers both humanity and recognizable roots. Gross is not so concerned with the Butlers' gothic decoration as with the souls that lurk underneath the gargoyle masks."

- Gina Mallet, Toronto Star, 14th October 1982

1983 - 1984

Seymour Street Theatre, Vancouver, BC

The Dead of Winter

Run: 18th November to 7th January

National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Ontario

Sprung Rhythm (an early version of Buchanan)

Run: 27th March to 28th April Toronto Free Theatre, Toronto, Ontario

1985

McLaughlin Planetarium, Toronto

Thunder, Perfect Mind

In 1984 Paul had been showing director Guy Sprung drafts of a rock-musical he was working on called, First Strike, You're Out, originally intended for Toronto Free Theatre Upstairs. Sprung had also been talking with the head of the Royal Ontario Museum's McLaughlin Planetarium. Says Sprung:

"I realized that Paul's musical was the project I was looking for. He writes big and has a wonderful feel for words."

The production, which was eventually renamed Thunder, Perfect Mind, employed technology that was usually reserved for rock groups. The show featured only two live performers; the rest of the cast appeared via taped recordings and slides and the huge Zeiss Star Projector was used to cast images on the 23-metre dome of the planetarium.

Music by Paul Gross, Laura Burton and Randy Waldie; Lyrics by Paul Gross

Michael Riley - Lake Denison
Aggie Cekuta Elliot - JoJo Rideout
Martha Henry - M.C.
Kate Trotter - Medea
Martha Burns - Florence Nightingale
Booth Savage - Unknown Soldier
Salome Bey - Angel of Mercy
Dan MacDonald - Attila the Hun
Richard Donat - General Douglas MacArthur
David Calderisi - Machiavelli
Maurice Evans - Thomas Hobbes
Lubomir Mykytiuk - Friedrich Nietzche
Jeremy Wilkin - St John the Divine
Paul Gross - Voices
Michael Hogan and Susan Hogan - Great Conundrum

Run: 30th October to 1st December
(opening postponed due to museum workers' strike. Official opening was 27th November 1985)

"Rock play pushes theatre into hi-tech era" - Toronto Star, November 1985

1986 - 1987

Toronto Free Theatre, Toronto, co-produced with The Stratford Festival

Buchanan

Characters: Buchanan (played by Michael Hogan), David, Intern, Bridges, Anaesthetist, Kate, Resident, Nelson, Hamilton, Profusionist, Jackie, Anna, Scrub Nurse, Underwood
Run: 1st October to 2nd November 1986

"The scope of the play is ambitious. Gross's subject is the god-like control that surgeons have over life and death and whether they can (or even should) bear such responsibility. [...] The end result is an occasionally impressive piece of writing that has serious flaws as drama. [...] He (Gross) is a literate writer who does not talk down to his audience - there are echoes of Shakespeare as well as Greek drama, plus extensive use of medical terms." - Robert Crew, Toronto Star, 9th October 1986

Le Théâtre De La Bordée

Tension Zéro (French adaptation of Buchanan)

adapted and translated by René Dionne

With thanks to Sheila Boyd