Erika Ritter

{{Short description|Canadian playwright and humorist}} {{Infobox writer  | image = | imagesize = | name = Erika Ritter | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|4|26}} | birth_place = Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada | occupation = Playwright, humorist, journalist | genre = | notableworks = }} '''Erika Ritter''' (born 26 April 1948) is a Canadian playwright, essayist, broadcaster and humorist.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Erika Ritter |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/erika-ritter |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}}</ref>

Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, she attended Sacred Heart Academy for High School, and studied drama at McGill University and the University of Toronto.

''A Visitor from Charleston'' was Ritter's first play to be professionally mounted; it was performed at the Manitoba Theatre Workshop in 1976.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia - Ritter, Erika |url=https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Ritter,%20Erika |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=www.canadiantheatre.com}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library Ritter, Erika, 1948-. |url=https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/finding_aid/ritter-erika-1948 |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library |language=en}}</ref> Ritter's most produced play is ''Automatic Pilot,'' which focuses on a self-deprecating female stand-up comic and her relationships with men.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Richards |first=David |date=1985-09-08 |title=Theater: Continuing Evolutions And Radical Transformations |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1985/09/08/theater-continuing-evolutions-and-radical-transformations/69bbbaae-8dcd-4008-8869-756b001b3e2f/ |access-date=2024-01-28 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The play won the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award in 1981.<ref name=":1" /> ''Automatic Pilot'' was also adapted for the radio in 1981, for which Ritter won Best Writer, Radio Drama at the ACTRA Awards.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Erika Ritter: UPEI Writer in Residence |url=https://www.upei.ca/communications/news/2013/10/erika-ritter-upei-writer-residence |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=UPEI |date=7 October 2013 |language=en}}</ref> Two of Ritter's plays, ''The Passing Scene'' and ''Murder at McQueen'', have been produced at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre.<ref>[http://www.tarragontheatre.com/about_production.php Tarragon Theatre] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228045555/http://www.tarragontheatre.com/about_production.php |date=2007-12-28 }}</ref>

In addition to her work as a playwright, Ritter has written and hosted programming for CBC Radio. Ritter was host of ''Saturday Stereo Theatre'' (1983–1984), ''Dayshift'' (1985–88), ''Air Craft'' (1988–1990) and ''Ontario Morning'' (2000–2005). She has also served as guest host on numerous programs, including ''As It Happens'', ''The Sunday Edition'', ''The Arts Tonight'', ''Here and Now''<ref>Peter Goddard, "Benoit to host Here & Now". ''Toronto Star'', August 5, 1999.</ref> and ''Fresh Air'', all on CBC Radio One.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://erikaritter.com/bio.htm |title=Erika Ritter – writer – biography |access-date=2008-01-20 |archive-date=2017-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171221110225/http://erikaritter.com/bio.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Ritter has also served as a writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Jack McClelland Writer-in-Residence {{!}} Department of English |url=https://www.english.utoronto.ca/people/information-and-lectures/jack-mcclelland-writer-residence#-writer-in-residence-tab-2 |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=www.english.utoronto.ca}}</ref> and the University of Prince Edward Island.<ref name=":2" />

==Bibliography== '''Stage plays'''<ref name=":0" /> * ''The Visitor from Charleston'' (1974) * ''The Splits'' (1978) * ''Winter 1671'' (1979) * ''Automatic Pilot'' (1980) * ''The Passing Scene'' (1982) * ''Murder at McQueen'' (1986) '''Books''' * ''Urban Scrawl'' (1984) * ''Ritter in Residence'' (1987) * ''The Hidden Life of Humans'' (1997) * ''The Great Big Book of Guys'' (2004) * ''The Dog by the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath: Some Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships'' (2009) {{ISBN|978-1-55470-076-9}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Archival records|title=Erika Ritter Papers}} *[http://www.erikaritter.com Erika Ritter's official site] *{{IMDb name|id=0728742|name=Erika Ritter}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, Erika}} Category:Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Category:Canadian humorists Category:Canadian people of German descent Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:Writers from Regina, Saskatchewan Category:CBC Radio hosts Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century Canadian women writers Category:21st-century Canadian women writers Category:Canadian women humorists Category:Canadian women radio hosts Category:Canadian talk radio hosts