About the Book New Canadian Drama - Volume 7, West Coast Comedies, edited by Alan Filewod. Volume 7 contains three comedies from British Columbia. In Village of Idiots John Lazarus offers an anthology of comic folktales about the famous wise fools of Chelm; Ian Weir´s St. George is a gently ironic study of a naive academic whose life is framed by his devotion to English literature; and in Down for the Count Peter Eliot Weiss resituates Dracula to the eve of the First World War and exposes the sexual repression and desire that feed Bram Stoker´s famous novel. Each of these three plays taps into contemporary angst, synthesizing the strange and the familiar into something that might be seen as a new Canadian sensibility.

About the Authors Alan Filewod
Alan Filewod B.A. (York), M.A. (Alberta), Ph.D. (Toronto) (1952- ), Professor (1995) University of Guelph; research interests include Political and postcolonial theatre, Canadian theatre and drama, theatre historiograph.

John Lazarus
John Lazarus (1947- ), playwright, screenwriter, dramaturge, actor, critic, and teacher, was born in Montreal and attended the National Theatre School. His fertile mind has created plays such as "Babel Rap," "Dreaming and Duelling," "The Late Blumer," "David for Queen," and "ICE: Beyond Cool." "Village of Idiots" appeared in the book, "New Canadian Drama--Volume 7, West Coast Comedies," (1999, Borealis) and was adapted for a CBC Radio mini-series and an award-winning National Film Board cartoon.

Ian Weir
Ian Weir ( ) is a British Columbia playwright and author whose play, "St. George," is published in "New Canadian Drama," Volume 7, "West Coast Comedies" (1999 Borealis). As an author his work includes "The Video Kid" (1989) and "The Video Kid Rides Again" (1991). He has also written for radio and a number of different television shows, including "Edgemont Road," which he created. He is now branching out into writing for film.

Peter Eliot Weiss
Peter Eliot Weiss (1953- ) is a Canadian playwright, actor, and director whose play, "Down for the Count," is in "New Canadian Drama," Volume 7, "West Coast Comedies" (1999 Borealis). His Ph.D. is from University of Toronto's Graduate Drama Centre and has taught at Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, and is the Associate Director of Language Across the Curriculum Program at the University of Toronto. His most popular play is the award-winning "Sex Tips for Modern Girls."

Also by the Authors Alan Filewod
New Canadian Drama Vol. 5: Political Drama: Learning to Live with Personal Growth, A Jungle Out There, Straight Stitching, No' Xya' (1991)