Seana McKennaCM (born 15 August 1956) is aCanadian actress primarily associated withstage roles at theStratford Shakespeare Festival.
Seana McKenna was born inToronto,Ontario, Canada. She is a graduate of theNational Theatre School of Canada,[1][2] where as a student she played Gwendolen inThe Importance of Being Earnest and Isabella inWomen Beware Women byThomas Middleton.[3]
McKenna has played over 40stage roles over the course of 36 years at theStratford Shakespeare Festival, and major ones from very early on, specializing since the 2000s in strong-willed women but also mesmerizing as an actress looking very different from one role to another.[4][5]2013 was her 26th season: She played Queen Elizabeth I inFriedrich Schiller'sMary Stuart directed byAntoni Cimolino and Madame Arcati inNoël Coward'sBlithe Spirit directed byBrian Bedford. She is directingTwelfth Night for the 2024 season.[6]
She has also played leading roles in many other major houses across Canada, including the title role inAntony and Cleopatra byWilliam Shakespeare (Centaur Theatre), Maggie inCat on a Hot Tin Roof byTennessee Williams (Grand Theatre, London),The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe byJane Wagner (Belfry Theatre,Neptune Theatre,National Arts Centre,Manitoba Theatre Centre/MTC), Blanche Dubois inA Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (Theatre New Brunswick), Eliza Dollitle inPygmalion and the title role inCandida byGeorge Bernard Shaw (Shaw Festival),Medea byEuripides andHedda Gabler byHenrik Ibsen (MTC), Blanche Dubois again at MTC,Wit byMargaret Edson at theCanadian Stage Company,[7]Orpheus Descending byTennessee Williams at theManitoba Theatre Centre andRoyal Alexandra Theatre,Doubt: A Parable byJohn Patrick Shanley at theCanadian Stage Company,Phèdre byJean Racine (American Conservatory Theater), andThe Year of Magical Thinking byJoan Didion (Belfry Theatre,Tarragon Theatre, andNational Arts Centre).[8][9][10][11]
Mckenna has also acted in a few films and television, including the 1997 filmThe Hanging Garden, in which she won aGenie Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well at filmed Stratford productions: Twelfth Night (1986, King John (2015), and Hamlet (2016)
She married directorMiles Potter, and they have one son, Callan, born in 1998.
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