KIRSTEN VAN RITZEN
  Kirsten Van Ritzen
  • Home
  • NEWS & UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
  • Theatre & Film
    • Demo reels
    • Reviews
  • Comedy
    • Video clips
    • Reviews
  • Dance Gallery
  • Press
    • TV Interviews
    • Radio
  • Writing
  • Producing & Teaching
  • Contact
Lunchbox Theatre Cast, AD and Dramaturg with the playwright.
WRITING CREDITS                              
Member of Playwrights Guild of Canada. Writers Guild of Canada (2009-2019) Writing CV by request. 

​
Plays  & Writing for the Stage 
SIDESHOW CARNIES  Set in the Dustbowl of 1930's, a handful of Travelling Sideshow Carnies have been stranded.  The Barker introduces each Astonishing Act: The Strong Man! the Mentalist! the Elocutionist! and the Snake Lady! Not for the faint of heart. 
CAST: 2M/3F One act/fifteen minutes.
2021 Skampede Festival, Theatre Skam, 2021 Festival Alter Arts Society
​
RADIOLAND '48 - Radio station employees fight to save their beloved studio from closing. A snappy contemporary homage to screwball comedies of the 1940's. 
CAST: 2M/2F One Act 60 minutes. Script available at Canadian Play Outlet.  
Development:
Zoom presentation by Deep Cove Theatre Society, North Vancouver (June 2021) 
Zoom play reading for THE PLAY THING (April 16, 2020)
Workshop/reading Emerging Voices, THEATRE ONE Nanaimo (Feb. 11, 2019). 
Workshop/reading Suncor STAGE ONE at Lunchbox Theatre, Calgary (June 2017) 
staged reading Readers' Theatre Festival, Langham Court (May 2017)  
staged reading Broad Theatrics, Victoria B.C. Culture Days (Oct. 2016)  


ALL MY DAY JOBS  - An intrepid actress attempts multiple Day Jobs in this one-woman comedy about misery.
CAST: 1F (one act 50 minutes) 

Remount starring the playwright Victoria Event Centre (Aug. 2016); performed by Mary Jean Doyle at Elizabeth Bairdmore One-Act Play Festival, Cape Breton University (2014);  excerpts performed by Lorraine James at Wild Women Cabaret, Sarasvati Productions, Winnipeg (March 2013);  The National Post published excerpt for Summer Jobs series (Sept. 2, 2012);  Premiere tour starring the playwright (Regina, Vancouver 2008)  

SOLO JOURNEYS -  A short one act comedy that lovingly mocks feminist solo theatre festivals.
CAST: 5F (20 minutes)                                                                          
​Premiere Victoria Actors Showdown (2015) *; staged readings at  Femfest, Sarasvati Productions Winnipeg (2016); Girl Shorts, Theatre Unbound MN (2015); Final Draught Reading Series, Vancouver (2008);  Broad Theatrics at Carousel, Vancouver (2008)  *Feature article:
https://www.vicnews.com/community/showdown-includes-solo-journey/

THE KIRSTEN VAN  RITZEN SHOW – solo character sketches and musical numbers.   Regina Fringe, Winnipeg Fringe; Hudson Guild, Hollywood   
DESPERATE/RIDICULOUS -  solo character sketches. Single File Theatre Festival, Chicago; Poor Alex  Theatre, Toronto; Tim Sims  Playhouse, Toronto
PETUNIA IN  PERIL -  An odd child-woman lives in a cardboard box, playing with her imaginary friends, until a crisis threatens. Summerworks  Festival, Toronto  
WANDERING IVORY-  A married mother takes a wrong turn on the way to work, and just keeps driving. Co-writer Ian Ferguson; Edmonton, Winnipeg  Fringe; 
A CLOSETFUL OF NAVY BLUES - A single woman prepares for a blind date. co-writer Ian Ferguson; Orlando Fringe, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton Fringe, Best of the Fringe Holdover 
MAD DOG MUSIC - Three women are all dating the same man. A solo show with songs. Co-writer Ian Ferguson; Edmonton Fringe, Best of the Fringe Holdover 
SPRING THAW I & II - Sketch Comedy. Acting/writing  ensemble Union Theatre, Edmonton
THE DIARIES OF... Sketch  Comedy Series. Acting/writing ensemble Union Theatre, Edmonton 
THE LOVE SHOW - Musical romantic comedy pastiche for 4 actors. Acting/writing ensemble  Wheatland Theatre, Regina  


Screenplays:
ROADKILL - short film - dramatic thriller, directed by Octavian Kaul. 
TAKE ME AWAY - comedic short. 2021 Comox Valley Intern'l Screenwriting Competition Finalist.  2020 Cinespark PItchfest Top 5.  
ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID - creator/headwriter/lead actor - spec TV series filmed at Global Studios, Burnaby 
​
Other Writing 
My Summer Affair - Facts and Arguments, Globe & Mail (Sept. 29, 2014)
Carnies - Summer Job Series, National Post (Sept. 2, 2012)
Theatre Reviews:  web critic for Vancouver Fringe Festival (2007) 
Sitcoms. 
Picture
THE COMEDY DIVA DIARIES  (Fiction - Humour)
THE COMEDY DIVA DIARIES is the tale of a twenty-nine year old comedienne who  gives herself an ultimatum: achieve success
before her next birthday, or die  trying.   Sassy and deluded, our heroine endures disastrous stand-up gigs and  humiliating TV commercial auditions. Her rich boyfriend, pampered pooch,  flamboyant agent, dysfunctional family and back-stabbing rivals aren’t much  help. On the brink of emotional collapse, Diva finds inspiration in a self-help  book, and makes the fateful decision to move across the continent in pursuit of  the Hollywood dream.  Will Diva admit defeat? Or will she find fame and fortune
before turning thirty?     
www.comedydivadiaries.com

 

Picture
 ONE FOR THE ROAD  (Fiction - Drama) 
ALL MY DAY JOBS is the tale  of an intrepid young actress who endures dozens of day jobs. This comedy about misery is one of six solo plays published in the anthology ONE FOR THE  ROAD: New Plays for One Actor (Signature Editions) edited by Kit Brennan. (see Production history below)
http://www.signature-editions.com/index.php/books/single_title/one_for_the_road_new_plays_for_one_actor