Leanna Brodie

Leanna Brodie is a Montréal-based actor, playwright, librettist, and translator whose work is celebrated across Canada and internationally. Her original plays—including The Vic, For Home and Country, The Book of Esther, and Schoolhouse—are published by Talonbooks and have been performed widely in Canada and the United States. Her latest play, Salesman in China, co-written with Jovanni Sy, premiered at the Stratford Festival in 2024 and transferred to the National Arts Centre in 2025.

Brodie’s libretti include Ulla’s Odyssey (with Anthony Young), which toured the UK with OperaUpClose and won both the Flourish Prize (UK) and the Opera Factory New Work Competition (NZ); The Translator (David Ogborn); she sees her lover in the light of morning (Craig Galbraith); and The Angle of Reflection (Anthony Young, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra).

As a translator, she has brought to English the works of many leading Québécois and Franco-Canadian playwrights, including Rébecca Déraspe (You Are Happy, I Am William, Gametes, Les Glaces), David Paquet (Wildfire, The Weight of Ants, The Shoe), Catherine Léger (Opium_37, I Lost My Husband!, Home Deliveries), and Hélène Ducharme (Baobab). Her translations have been produced across North America and internationally, with several published by Playwrights Canada Press and Scirocco Drama.

Brodie has held residencies at the Blyth Festival, 4th Line Theatre, Lighthouse Festival Theatre, Gateway Theatre, and Playwrights Theatre Centre. She has also taught playwriting at the University of British Columbia and Concordia University.
Leanna Brodie

Her recent accolades include the 2024 Québec Writers’ Federation Award for Best New Play (shared with Jovanni Sy) for Salesman in China, the 2023 PGC Tom Hendry Award for Best New Play (shared with David Paquet) for her translation of The Weight of Ants, and the 2022 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best New Play (shared with David Paquet) for her translation of Wildfire.