Award-winning filmmaker and playwright Michael Melski dies at 56

Family and friends of award-winning playwright and filmmaker Michael Melski, from Sydney, N.S., have shared news of his death and messages of condolence on social media after he died Friday. He was 56.

Melski’s plays were featured on stages across Canada, including his 2001 Merritt and Dora-nominated play, ‘Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad’, which was named one of Canada’s top 10 plays of the year by the Toronto Star.

His award-winning films included ‘The Child Remains’, ‘Charlie Zone’, and the documentary ‘Perfume War’.

He served as an artist-in-residence at the Shaw Festival, Neptune Theatre and Eastern Front Theatre, where his play ‘Creepy and Little Manson’ debuted in 2016.

In addition to his other achievements in film, television and theatre, Melski received the Halifax Mayor’s Award for Achievement in Theatre in 2006.

Family members said they were surprised and saddened by his passing and that funeral arrangements will be announced soon.

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