{{Short description|Canadian playwright and theatre director}} {{Infobox person | name = Kat Sandler | image = Kat Sandler at the CFC eOne TV Adaptation Lab Welcome Reception (26769402874).jpg | alt = | caption = Sandler in 2016 | birth_name = Katherine Sandler | birth_date = <!-- {{birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | other_names = | alma_mater = Queen's University at Kingston | occupation = playwright | years_active = 2008–present | known_for = | notable_works = {{hlist|''Mustard''|''Yaga''}} | awards = Dora Mavor Moore Award }} '''Katherine Sandler''' is a Canadian playwright and theatre director.<ref>"'We want to have something to fight for'". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 13, 2013.</ref> She is the co-founder and artistic director of Theatre Brouhaha in Toronto, where she staged a number of her plays. Her notable works include the Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning ''Mustard'', and ''Yaga'', which she also adapted into a television series.<ref name="CTE">{{cite web |last=Nothof|first=Anne|title=Sandler, Kat|url=https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Sandler%2C%20Kat |website=Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia|publisher=Athabasca University|location=Alberta, Canada|access-date=February 18, 2026}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Sandler was born in Toronto and grew up in the Cabbagetown neighbourhood. Her mother, Ann MacNaughton, was a screenwriter for Canadian television shows including ''Traders'' and ''E.N.G.'', and her father, Jerry Sandler, had also worked in the film industry.<ref name="Mustard">{{cite web |last=Lavoie|first=Joanna|date=February 17, 2016|title=East-end playwright adds 'Mustard' to Tarragon's lineup |url=https://www.toronto.com/news/east-end-playwright-adds-mustard-to-tarragon-s-lineup/article_8f8938a4-700e-5678-9b52-2b170ec54d7d.html? |website=Toronto.com|access-date=March 28, 2026}}</ref><ref name="Playback">{{cite magazine |last=Tracy|first=Andrew|date=September 18, 2025|title=10 to Watch 2025: Kat Sandler |url=https://playbackonline.ca/2025/09/18/10-to-watch-2025-kat-sandler/ |magazine=Playback|location=Toronto|access-date=March 28, 2026}}</ref> She attended secondary school at the University of Toronto Schools in the class of 2004.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated -->|title=Notable Alumni: Katherine (Kat) Sandler|url=https://www.utschools.ca/uts-community/alumni/notable-alumni|website=University of Toronto Schools|location=Toronto|access-date=February 19, 2026}}</ref> She wrote and directed her own musical as her final school project.<ref name="Post City">{{cite web |last=Streitenfeld |first=Darcy |date=February 2, 2018 |title=Award-winning playwright Kat Sandler on her latest production, Bang Bang |url=https://postcity.com/award-winning-playwright-kat-sandler-on-her-latest-production-bang-bang/ |website=Post City |location=Toronto |access-date=March 28, 2026}}</ref> She then studied theatre at the Dan School of Drama and Music at Queen's University, graduating in 2008.<ref name="Gazette">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=February 8, 2017|title=Playwright explores new ground in return to Queen's |url=https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/playwright-explores-new-ground-return-queens |website=Queen's Gazette|publisher=Queen's University|location=Kingston, Ontario|access-date=February 19, 2026}}</ref>
==Career== After university, Sandler worked with Theatre Gargantua in Toronto and acted in their productions of ''Fibber'' (2008) and ''Imprints'' (2011).<ref>{{cite web |year=2008|title=Fibber|url=https://theatregargantua.ca/fibber/ |website=Theatre Gargantua|location=Toronto|access-date= March 8, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=2011|title=Imprints |url=https://theatregargantua.ca/imprints/ |website=Theatre Gargantua|location=Toronto|access-date= March 8, 2026}}</ref> She considers herself to be primarily a playwright and director, and she has directed many of her own plays.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bedard|first=Kelly|date=June 2, 2013|title=Nominees Interview Series: Kat Sandler (2012)|url=https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2013/06/kat-sandler/ |website=My Entertainment World|access-date=March 8, 2026}}</ref> In 2010, Sandler and her Queens University classmate Tom McGee founded Theatre Brouhaha, which she described as "theatre for a younger generation", with "slick, fast-paced plays that are marketed like television".<ref name="Mustard"/> The company's first production was her play ''Lovesexmoney'' in 2011.<ref name="Post City"/>
Sandler won the New Play Contest at the Toronto Fringe Festival with ''Help Yourself'' in 2012.<ref name="Help Yourself">{{cite web |last=Bimm|first=Jordan|date=June 28, 2012|title=Interview: Kat Sandler|url=https://nowtoronto.com/culture/interview-kat-sandler/ |website=Now Toronto|access-date=March 8, 2026}}</ref> In 2016, she was awarded the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play for ''Mustard''.<ref name="Dora Award">{{cite news |last=Maga|first=Carly|date=June 27, 2016|title=2016 Dora Awards spread the wealth |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2016/06/27/2016-dora-awards-spread-the-wealth.html |work=Toronto Star|access-date=February 19, 2026}}</ref> She had developed the play, about a troubled teenager's imaginary friend, at the Tarragon Theatre's Playwrights Unit.<ref name="Mustard"/>
''Late Night'', originally written by Sandler for the 24-hour playwriting contest at the Toronto Fringe, was produced in 2016 by Moses Znaimer of ZoomerMedia. The play was staged in a television studio to resemble the taping of a late-night talk show in front of a live audience.<ref name="Late Night">{{cite web |last=Bedard|first=Kelly|date=October 14, 2016|title=Late Night via ZoomerLive |url=https://www.myentertainmentworld.ca/2016/10/late-night-via-zoomerlive/ |website=My Entertainment World|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> It was recorded and later broadcast on VisionTV.<ref name="VisionTV">{{cite web |last=Crisolago|first=Mike|date=June 15, 2020|title="Late Night" Playwright Kat Sandler on Ageism, Theatre and ZoomerLive |url=https://www.visiontv.ca/2020/06/15/late-night-playwright-kat-sandler-on-ageism-theatre-and-zoomerlive/ |website=VisionTV|location=Toronto|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref>
Sandler was commissioned to write a pair of plays for the Citadel in Edmonton, Alberta, by the theatre's artistic director, Daryl Cloran. In 2019, the two political farces, ''The Party'' and ''The Candidate'', were performed simultaneously by the same cast on different stages in the theatre complex.<ref name="Citadel">{{cite news |last=Faulder|first=Liane|date=April 5, 2019|title=The Party pairs politics and puns in new Citadel farce |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/theatre/the-party-pairs-politics-and-puns-in-new-citadel-farce |work=Edmonton Journal|location=Alberta, Canada|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref>
''Yaga'', a reimagining of the myth of Baba Yaga, debuted at the Tarragon Theatre in 2019, starring Seana McKenna in multiple roles, including a university professor with "a taste for younger men".<ref name="Yaga Tarragon">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated -->|year=2019 |title=Yaga|url=https://tarragontheatre.com/plays/2019-2020/yaga/ |website=Tarragon Theatre|location=Toronto|access-date=March 29, 2026}}</ref> The story blends folklore with a whodunit, following a detective investigating the disappearance of a student who interviewed the professor about Baba Yaga.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fricker|first=Karen|date=September 26, 2019|title=Yaga is a hilarious, ambitious vehicle for great actors to strut their stuff |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/yaga-is-a-hilarious-ambitious-vehicle-for-great-actors-to-strut-their-stuff/article_7ace91ff-61c6-55f8-ab54-40e71a73bd8c.html |work=Toronto Star|access-date=March 29, 2026}}</ref> Sandler adapted the play into a television series of the same name for the Canadian streaming service Crave, and she was also the showrunner for production in 2026.<ref name="Yaga TV">{{cite magazine |last=Schneider|first=Michael|date=February 18, 2026|title='Heated Rivalry' Star Hudson Williams Joins Crave Mystery Thriller Series ‘Yaga’ With Carrie-Anne Moss and Noah Reid |url=https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/heated-rivalry-hudson-williams-crave-yaga-carrie-anne-moss-1236666434/ |magazine=Variety|access-date=February 18, 2026}}</ref>
Sandler premiered ''Wildwoman'', a play inspired by the origin story of ''Beauty and the Beast'', at the Soulpepper Theatre in 2023.<ref name="Wildwoman">{{cite magazine |last=Perez|first=Andrea|date=October 16, 2023|title=Review: Wildwoman at Soulpepper is a magnificent beast |url=https://www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/magnificent-wildwoman/ |magazine=Intermission|location=Toronto|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> She adapted the classic children's novel ''Anne of Green Gables'' by Lucy Maud Montgomery into a play for the Stratford Festival's 2025 season.<ref name="Green Gables"/>
==Works== ===Theatre=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" ! Year ! Title ! scope="col" | Writer ! scope="col" | Director ! scope="col" | Notes ! scope="col" | {{Ref heading}} |- ! scope="row" | 2011 | ''Lovesexmoney'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="TTD">{{cite web |title=Kat Sandler|url=https://ttdb.ca/people/kat-sandler/ |website=Toronto Theatre Database|access-date=March 8, 2026}}</ref><ref>"Love, sex, death and laughs on stage". ''Toronto Star'', January 5, 2012.</ref> |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2012 | ''Help Yourself'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Help Yourself"/> |- | ''Delicacy'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="TTD"/><ref>"Art of darkness". ''The Globe and Mail'', August 13, 2013.</ref> |- ! scope="row" rowspan="5" | 2013 | ''Rock'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="TTD"/> |- | ''The Unseen Hand'' | {{no}} | {{yes}} | Play by Sam Shepard (1969) | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite web |last=Hoile|first=Christopher|date=May 2, 2013|title=Review – The Unseen Hand|url=https://www.stage-door.com/Theatre/2013/Entries/2013/5/2_The_Unseen_Hand.html |website=Stage Door|location=Ontario, Canada|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- | ''We Are the Bomb'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite news |last=Ouzounian|first=Richard|date=June 28, 2013|title=Toronto Fringe festival gives women a chance to shine |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/toronto-fringe-festival-gives-women-a-chance-to-shine/article_54064716-b47d-5939-aa99-e660e9e2d8ef.html |work=Toronto Star|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- | ''Will'' | {{yes}} | {{no}} | Part of ''You Can Sleep When You're Dead''; directed by Michael Orlando | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="TTD"/><ref>"In search of spooky thrills". ''The Globe and Mail'', October 31, 2013.</ref> |- | ''Sucker'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite web |last=Bimm|first=Jordan|date=October 31, 2013|title=Sucker|url=https://nowtoronto.com/culture/sucker/ |website=Now Toronto|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" rowspan="4" | 2014 | ''Cockfight'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref>"An entertaining rumble". ''The Globe and Mail'', June 28, 2014.</ref> |- | ''Punch Up'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Punch Up">{{cite magazine |last=Kappler|first=Maija|date=February 20, 2017|title=Hot Off the Press: Punch Up|url=https://www.intermissionmagazine.ca/newshot-off-the-press/punch-up/ |magazine=Intermission|location=Toronto|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- | ''Retreat'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite news |last=Ouzounian|first=Richard|date=September 22, 2014|title=Retreat's comedy reveals what makes Generation Y click |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/retreat-s-comedy-reveals-what-makes-generation-y-click/article_6d2b991c-d276-59c0-8a65-3e7a3e2e8675.html |work=Toronto Star|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- | ''Avaricious'' | {{yes}} | {{no}} | Contributing writer; directed by Jacquie P.A. Thomas | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="TTD"/> |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2015 | ''Liver'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite news |last=Ouzounian|first=Richard|date=May 1, 2015|title=Liver terribly funny and wonderfully thought-provoking: review |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/liver-terribly-funny-and-wonderfully-thought-provoking-review/article_0c716fe9-5454-59d3-8a9b-190d86efa6f5.html |work=Toronto Star|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- | ''Big Plans'' | {{no}} | {{yes}} | Play by Jeremy Taylor | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite web |last=Hoile|first=Christopher|date=September 4, 2015|title=Review – Big Plans|url=https://www.stage-door.com/Theatre/2015/Entries/2015/9/4_Big_Plans.html |website=Stage Door|location=Ontario, Canada|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" rowspan="3" | 2016 | ''Late Night'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Late Night"/> |- | ''Mustard'' | {{yes}} | {{no}} | Directed by Ashlie Corcoran | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Mustard"/> |- | ''Bright Lights'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite news |last=Wheeler|first=Brad|date=June 30, 2016 |title=What playwright Kat Sandler is watching and reading |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/what-playwright-kat-sandler-is-watching-and-reading/article30704917/ |work=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2017 | ''The End of the World Club'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | Collaboration with Dan School of Drama and Music students | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite news |last=Tomlinson|first=Clayton|date=February 16, 2017|title=It's the end of the world as we know it|url=https://www.queensjournal.ca/its-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it/ |work=Queen's University Journal|location=Kingston, Ontario|access-date=March 8, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2018 | ''Bang Bang'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Post City"/> |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2019 | ''The Party''<br />''The Candidate'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | Simultaneous double bill; co-directed with Daryl Cloran | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Citadel"/> |- | ''Yaga'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Yaga Tarragon"/> |- ! scope="row" | 2020 | ''Morro and Jasp: Save the Date'' | {{no}} | {{yes}} | Created by Amy Lee and Heather Marie Annis; co-directed with Byron Laviolette | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite web |last=McKeown|first=Lisa|date=January 10, 2020|title=Next Stage review: Morro and Jasp: Save the Date|url=https://nowtoronto.com/culture/next-stage-review-morro-and-jasp-save-the-date/ |website=Now Toronto|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2023 | ''Wildwoman'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Wildwoman"/> |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2024 | ''Interior Design'' | {{no}} | {{yes}} | Play by Rosa Labordé | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite web |last=Wild|first=Stephi|date=October 10, 2024 |title=Interior Design Makes World Premiere Next Week |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/ottawa/article/INTERIOR-DESIGN-Makes-World-Premiere-Next-Week-20241010 |website=Broadway World|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- | ''Big Stuff'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | Co-written with Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite magazine |last=Donovan|first=Liam|date=November 24, 2024|title=Review: Baram and Snieckus' Big Stuff uses improv to explore the materiality of grief |url=https://www.intermissionmagazine.ca/reviews/big-stuff/ |magazine=Intermission|location=Toronto|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2025 | ''Anne of Green Gables'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | Based on the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Green Gables">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated -->|year=2025|title=Stratford Festival Visitors Guide|url=https://cds.stratfordfestival.ca/uploadedFiles/2025_Visitors-Guide_MAC.pdf |website=stratfordfestival.ca|location=Stratford, Ontario|page=23|access-date=March 8, 2026}}</ref> |- |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Credits ! scope="col" | Notes ! scope="col" | {{Ref heading}} |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2017 | rowspan="2" | ''Kim's Convenience'' | Writer | Season 2, episode 5: "Date Night" | style="text-align:center" rowspan="2" | <ref name="Playback"/><ref>{{cite web |year=2017|title=Kim's Convenience full cast & crew|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5912064/fullcredits |website=IMDB|access-date=April 4, 2026}}</ref> |- | Story editor | Season 2, 4 episodes |- ! scope="row" | 2020 | ''Late Night'' | {{hlist|Writer|Director}} | Hybrid play and TV production | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="VisionTV"/> |-
! scope="row" | 2023 | ''Less Than Kosher'' | Story editor | 7-episode TV series | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite web |last=Lacey|first=Liam|date=June 1, 2023 |title=Original-Cin Q&A: Toronto Musical Less than Kosher Drawn from Real Life |url=https://www.original-cin.ca/posts/2023/6/1/original-cin-qampa-toronto-musical-less-than-kosher-drawn-from-real-life |website=Original Cin|access-date=April 4, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=2023|title=Less Than Kosher full cast & crew|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15792140/fullcredits |website=IMDB|access-date=April 4, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | TBD | ''Yaga'' | {{hlist|Writer|Showrunner}} | 8-episode TV series | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="Yaga TV"/> |}
===Podcasts=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Credits ! scope="col" | Notes ! scope="col" | {{Ref heading}} |- ! scope="row" | 2016 | ''How to Build a Fire'' | Writer | 6-episode radio play for the Koffler Centre of the Arts | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated -->|date=March 3, 2016|title=How to Build a Fire: The Finale|url=https://nowtoronto.com/culture/how-to-build-a-fire-the-finale/ |website=Now Toronto|access-date=April 3, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2018 | ''Limetown'' | Writer | Season 2, episode 4: "The Bridge" | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="The Artists"/><ref>{{cite web |year=2018|title=Limetown S2.E4 The Bridge|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21843434 |website=IMDB|access-date=April 4, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2020 | ''Blue Rare'' | Writer | Part of ''The Quarantine Chronicles'' from CBC's PlayMe | style="text-align:center" | <ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=July 21, 2020|title=The Quarantine Chronicles are like bedtime stories for bizarre times|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcastnews/the-quarantine-chronicles-are-like-bedtime-stories-for-bizarre-times-1.5657537|website=CBC|access-date=April 5, 2026}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | 2022 | ''You Can't Get There From Here'' | {{hlist|Writer|Director}} | Volume 2, episode 5: "The Artists"; a Factory Theatre production | style="text-align:center" | <ref name="The Artists">{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |year=2022 |title=The Artists |url=https://www.factorytheatre.ca/shows/the-artists/ |website=Factory Theatre|location=Toronto |access-date=April 4, 2026}}</ref> |}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandler, Kat}} Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Category:21st-century Canadian women writers Category:Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Category:Canadian stage actresses Category:Actresses from Toronto Category:Writers from Toronto Category:Queen's University at Kingston alumni Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)