Hillar Liitoja

Erik Hillar Liitoja (June 18, 1954 – June 2, 2023) was a Canadian playwright and theatre director.[1] He was most noted for his 1993 play The Last Supper,[2] which won the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award in 1994[3] and was adapted by Cynthia Roberts into the 1994 feature film The Last Supper.[4]

Hillar Liitoja
BornErik Hillar Liitoja
(1954-06-18)June 18, 1954
DiedJune 2, 2023(2023-06-02) (aged 68)
OccupationPlaywright, theatre director
Notable worksThe Last Supper
Notable awardsFloyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award (1994)

Trained as a concert pianist, Liitoja founded his own Toronto, Ontario theatre company, DNA Theatre, in the 1980s.[1] His other plays have included This Is What Happens in Orangeville,[5] The Panel,[6] The Deputation,[1] Sick,[7] Poundemonium,[8] Artaud and His Doubles,[9] Phalanx,[10] Paula and Karl,[1] Wit in Love[1] and I Know and Feel That Fate Is Harsh But I Am So Loathe to Accept This.[1]

Liitoja won several Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Best Direction of a Play in the Small Theatre division, winning in 1989 for a production of Hamlet,[11] in 1991 for Sick,[12] and in 1994 for The Last Supper.[13]

Liitoja died on June 2, 2023, at the age of 68.[14]

References
  1. "Liitoja, Hillar". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, October 25, 2015.
  2. H. J. Kirchoff, "Theatre: The Last Supper". The Globe and Mail, October 29, 1993.
  3. "Four playwrights win 1993 Chalmers awards". Ottawa Citizen, May 10, 1994.
  4. Kelly, Brendan (September 26, 1994). "The Last Supper". Variety.
  5. Liam Lacey, "Force of evil unveiled in play about murder". The Globe and Mail, January 31, 1987.
  6. Ray Conlogue, "Theatre Review: The Panel". The Globe and Mail, November 23, 1990.
  7. Vit Wagner, "The AIDS sufferer in writer-director Hillar Liitoja's confrontational drama, Sick, does not go gently into that uncertain night". Toronto Star, March 28, 1991.
  8. Mira Friedlander, "Poundemonium a visual delight". Toronto Star, May 3, 1993.
  9. Vit Wagner, "Confounding the fence-sitters: Avant-gardist unveils work in spirit of Artaud". Toronto Star, May 23, 1996.
  10. Vit Wagner, "Theatre shows off its street smarts". Toronto Star, June 17, 1999.
  11. Robert Crew, "Passe Muraille sweeps up Doras". Toronto Star, June 26, 1989.
  12. Geoff Chapman, "The Doras gild Lilies as top drama/comedy". Toronto Star, June 18, 1991.
  13. Vit Wagner, "Dora Awards crazy for Crazy For You". Toronto Star, June 21, 1994.
  14. "Erik Hillar Liitoja". The Globe & Mail. Retrieved September 9, 2023 – via Legacy.com.


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