The Monument

By Colleen Wagner and Richard Rose

Stetko is the model boy next door and the son of middle-class parents, but when war arrives it forever changes his life. Although he does nothing more than follow his commanding officer's orders, when the war is over he stands accused of terrible crimes. A profoundly affecting two-person drama that reminds us of the faceless horror of war, and of the guilt which whole nations must carry on their shoulders. Wagner's play goes to the heart of man's inhumanity in war time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
• Release date: Oct 15, 2010
• ISBN: 9780887549465

Colleen Wagner

A multi-award-winning writer, Colleen Wagner studied arts at the OCAD University, as well as literature and drama at the University of Toronto, and she moves between these art forms. Her writing interests include screenplays, stage plays, poetry, and short fiction. Her produced plays include: The Monument (Playwrights Canada Press), translated into a dozen languages and winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama, several Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and a number of inter-national awards; The Morning Bird (Scirocco Drama), produced in English and French; down from heaven (Playwrights Canada Press), nominated for a MECCA Award for Best New Play; and Home (Scirocco Drama). Wagner is a past recipient of a research-creation grant from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council that took her to Africa. Her documentary play, The Living, based on stories of survivors in post-conflict zones, premiered to sold-out audiences at the 2015 SummerWorks Performance Festival at the Theatre Centre’s BMO Incubator for Live Arts in Toronto, and won NOW Magazine’s Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award and Best Director Award. Wagner has written a number of screenplays, including an adaptation of The Monument; filmed a documentary film about women in post-conflict zones and matriarchal societies, Women Building Peace, winner of the Silver Wave Film Festival’s 2016 Best Documentary Award; and an interactive website based on this research, thelivingplay.com. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in various anthologies, including Acta Victoriana, The Fiddlehead, and dANDelion Magazine. She divides her time between a riverside farm in New Brunswick and downtown Toronto.

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