George Ryga: A Postmodern Playwright

Abstract

George Ryga is, undoubtedly, the quintessence of postmodernism. He was born to immigrant parents in the farming community of Deep Creek in Northern Alberta. His family had arrived in Canada from what Ryga calls ‘medieval Ukrainian villages’ and this uprooting no doubt lies behind ‘the sense of spiritual hopelessness[that] is common in his work,’ and explains the need of ‘many of the characters [to] define themselves by their relationship to a country they have lost or one they would never find’. Ryga feels strongly that Canadians would consider ‘themselves capable of creating a national culture, part of which may be the presentation of Canadian drama, which is ‘an accurate reflection of our life-condition’, and which accepts ‘the language and human qualifications of the people to whom and of whom it speaks’ (Carson Neil ).