# Lina Chartrand

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**Lina Chartrand** (June 10, 1948 – April 2, 1994)[1] was a Canadian writer and theatre creator. She was a co-founder of the feminist theatre company, [Company of Sirens](/source/Company_of_Sirens). Her most famous work was the bilingual and partly autobiographical play, *La P'tite Miss Easter Seals*.

## Early life

Chartrand was born in 1948 in [Timmins](/source/Timmins), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), [Canada](/source/Canada), one of four children of Leo and Leocadie Chartland. At sixteen months old, she contracted [polio](/source/Polio) which resulted in her requiring spinal surgery at age 10, following which Chartrand spent time in a full body cast. In 1960, Chartrand was selected as Little Miss [Easter Seals](/source/Easter_Seals_(Canada)).[2]

Chartrand attended [Queen's University](/source/Queen's_University_at_Kingston) in [Kingston, Ontario](/source/Kingston,_Ontario), where she received a [B.A.](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) in drama.[2]

## Career

In 1986, Chartrand formed the [feminist theatre](/source/Feminist_theatre) collective [Company of Sirens](/source/Company_of_Sirens), with [Aida Jordão](/source/Aida_Jord%C3%A3o), Catherine Glen, [Lib Spry](/source/Lib_Spry), [Shawna Dempsey](/source/Shawna_Dempsey_and_Lorri_Millan), and [Cynthia Grant](/source/Cynthia_Grant_(director)).[3] With *Company of Sirens*, Chartrand co-created the play, *The Working People's Picture Show*.[4][5]

Chartrand's first play, *La P'tite Miss Easter Seals*, premiered in 1988 with Theatre Francais at the [Harbourfront Centre](/source/Harbourfront_Centre)'s du Maurier Theatre.[6] She worked on the play for three years with consultation from John Van Burek.[7] *La P'tite Miss Easer Seals*, partly inspired by Chartrand's childhood, is set on a train from Timmins to Toronto and centres on fifteen-year-old Little Miss Easter Seals, Monique Latremouille, who is travelling with her mother and cousin. Monique has spent six months in a full body cast after a spinal surgery to correct effects of childhood polio. The play's characters switch frequently between speaking French and English.[8] *La P'tite Miss Easter Seals* was re-staged in 1993 by Company of Sirens at Tarragon Theatre's Extra Space.[9]

Chartrand directed Helen Porter's *My Father Taught Me To Swim* in 1991 at the Annex Theatre.[10] In 1993, Chartrand was named a screenwriter in residence at the [Canadian Film Centre](/source/Canadian_Film_Centre).[11] The half-hour film she worked on during this residency, "In Limbo", was in [post-production](/source/Post-production) when she died.[1]

Chartrand's collected poetry was published posthumously in the 1998 book, *We Make the Air: the Poetry of Lina Chartrand.*[12]

## Death and legacy

Chartrand died on April 2, 1994, due to complications with [liver disease](/source/Liver_disease), pre-deceasing partner Kye Marshall.[13] The [Lina Chartrand Poetry Award](/source/Contemporary_Verse_2#Lina_Chartrand_Award) was established in her memory.[2]

## References

1. ["In memoriam: Lina Chartrand, 1948–1994"](https://www.proquest.com/docview/194882255). *Resources for Feminist Research*. **3** (22): 3. 1994.

1. "Lina Chartrand: siren song". *[Canadian Theatre Review](/source/Canadian_Theatre_Review)*. 1994. [ISSN 0315-0836](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0315-0836)

1. Scott, Shelley (2010). [*Nightwood Theatre: A Woman's Work is Always Done*](https://books.google.com/books?id=gqCoOSsnOeEC). Athabasca University Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-897425-55-8. – via Google Books.

1. di Cenzo, Maria & Bennett, Susan (1992). "Women, Popular Theatre, and Social Action: Interviews with Cynthia Grant and the Sistren Theatre Collective". *ARIEL: A Review of International English Literature*. **23** (1): 74.

1. Bell, Laurie (1987). ["Working People's Popular Appeal"](https://www.broadsidefeminist.com/wpsite/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Broadside0806.pdf). *Broadside: A Feminist Review*. Retrieved 2020-07-29.

1. Crew, Robert (1988-03-11). "Little Miss Easter Seals a promising work". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*. p. E21.

1. Wagner, Vit (1988-03-04). "Bilingual drama plays off childhood polio". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*. p. D10.

1. Moss, Jane (Spring 2000). "Le theatre Franco-Ontarien: Dramatic spectacles of linguistic otherness". *University of Toronto Quarterly*. **69** (2): 587–614. [doi:10.3138/utq.69.2.587](https://doi.org/10.3138/utq.69.2.587). [S2CID 153709348](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:153709348)

1. Wagner, Vit (1993-10-28). "'I laugh, I cry, I sing – all lying down'". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*. p. WO10.

1. Wagner, Vit (1991-10-11). "Storyteller spins bit too much yarn into engaging tale". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*. p. D14.

1. "New residents named at Canadian Film Centre". *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*. 1993-06-11. p. C8.

1. ["An Interview with Maureen Hynes, Liz Ukrainetz, and Kye Marshall – Contemporary Verse 2"](https://contemporaryverse2.ca/interviews/an-interview-with-maureen-hynes-liz-ukrainetz-and-kye-marshall/). *[Contemporary Verse 2](/source/Contemporary_Verse_2)*. 2020-04-09. Retrieved 2021-11-06.

1. "Lina Chartrand: obituary". *Canadian Woman Studies*. **14** (3): 100. Summer 1994.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lina Chartrand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Chartrand) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Chartrand?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.