Erik Mortensen was born in Brampton on August 11th, 1987. He lived in Georgetown for one year. Then, in 1988, the Mortensen family moved to Fergus, and Erik has lived there ever since. He went to St. Josephs elementary school in Fergus. In 1993 he joined the Centre Wellington Childrens Drama Club. In 1999 Erik joined The Not So Grand Players, a non-profit theatre group who donated all profits from their shows to local charities. In grade 5 he was given an assignment to write a short story of a page or two in length, and Erik decided to turn in a story whose pages numbered well over ten. This was the first major creative writing assignment he’d been given, and it started him on his path of writing and his prolific ways. He graduated in 2001, valedictorian and a member of two theatre companies, The Not So Grand Players and RCMP.
In 2001 Erik began his high school career at St. James High School. While he studied Drama in school as well as History and English and various other arts subjects, he avoided being involved with school productions. Instead he focused his time with theatre companies outside of the school. For his first three years at high school his largest extracurricular activity was debating. In 2002 his team won the CWOR Jr. Cross – X Debate, CWOR Jr. Impromptu Debate and Erik was named one of the top 10 junior debaters in the province of Ontario. In 2003 his team won the CWOR Jr. Team Final. Then in 2003-04 his team won the Sr. Team Parliamentary Debate. In the year of 2003-04 Erik’s involvement in the arts really started taking off. He co-wrote an original musical that took place in a trailer park called Two Trailers Too Many, which was produced by the Not So Grand Players. He also won the St. James Literary Award that year. During the summer of that year he completed a novella, House of Broken Stone and filmed a movie The Weeping House with Weeping House Productions.
2004-05 marked a huge year for Erik. In this year he ceased debating and became the Drama Coordinator of the St. James Arts council. He was placed in charge of the Sears Drama Festival for St. James. He wrote, directed and produced The Show. The Show won him an award of excellence at the festival and the Provincial OECTA Young Authors Award for his script. This year he also went on a mission trip to help build an orphanage in Guatemala and had an eye-opening experience which he has never forgotten. This year he also self published his novella through Volumes Publishing. He graduated in 2005 top of the class for both Drama and World Issues. He also brought home a Lifetime Achievement of the Arts Award from St. James, The Lion’s Club Creative Writing Award, and an award for his short stories for the school newspaper. He had also been selected as part of the Shakespeare on Wheels program run by Stratford. He was selected to play Macbeth for the St. James Production, and he even took a roll in St. James musical that year. By this point the was now a member of four theatre companies: The Not So Grand Players, On the Spot Productions, RCMP, and Grinder Productions.
In 2005-06 Erik started at the University of Guelph with a double major of History and English and Theatre Studies. It was this year in which he started his own theatre company The Mainstreet Players. The first production the company produced was Murder at the Domino, (A show Erik is planning to convert into an original musical in the future.) a murder mystery dinner theatre at the Breadalbane Inn in Fergus. Then, in November of 2006, Erik Mortensen Live at War Memorial was produced. This was Erik’s first full-length one-man production, but it will not be his last. This year also marked when his second novella was published, only this time his work was published by Crackjaw Publishing. It was a historical fiction called Avenging Abe and received very positive reviews from History faculty at the University of Guelph.
In 2007 Erik took an English course called Literature and Social Change, and this course changed Erik’s life. Through it he became more aware of how his writing and literature and art can be truly used to address the issues of society and the world. He had his perspective opened to seeing how effectively what is learned in a classroom can be used in the real world. As a result he became involved in a group project to use literature to help create social change. This led to the creation of Haiti Held Hostage, an extremely successful production (and which has future productions in the works). He also got to cut his teeth with some more film work when he worked as a student producer with U-Tours with their film. This year he also wrote, directed, produced and performed in Hot Pursuit. This original comedy based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream was well-received and a part of the Shakespeare Made in Canada Festival and Canadian Shakespeare Adaptations Database and research project.
1993: The Wizard of Oz – (play) performing
1994: A Night of Stars – (play) performing
1995: Emperor’s New Clothes – (play) performing
1996: The Eh! Files – (play) performing
1997: Canada Still Under Construction – (play) performing
1998: A Midsummer Night’s Dream – (play) performing
1998: Oliver! – (musical) performing
1999: Macbeth – (play) performing
1999: Christmas Windows – (musical) performing
2000: Memories of Christmas – (musical) performing
2001: Something Familiar – (musical) performing
2002: Shop Till You Drop – (musical) performing
2003: Christmas 101 – (musical) performing
2003: Wagon Wheels West – (musical) performing
2004: No Place Like Home For The Holidays – (musical) performing
2004: St. James Improv Team – (improv acting) performing
2004: Beyond the Grave – (murder mystery play) performing
2004: The Weeping House – (film) performing
2004: Disco Knights – (musical) performing
2004: Two Trailers Too Many – (musical) writing, performing
2005: Paradise City – (musical) performing
2005: Macbeth – (Shakespeare on Wheels Program) performing
2005: Flapper – (musical) performing
2005: When The Water Went Red – (short story) writing
2005: Butterflies are Free – (play) performing
2005: The Show – (play) writing, directing, producing
2005: House of Broken Stone – (novella) writing
2006: Murder at the Domino – (play) writing, directing, producing, performing
2006: Way Out West in a Dress – (musical) performing
2006: Erik Mortensen Live at War Memorial – (stand up comedy and impersonations) writing, directing, producing and performing
2006: Avenging Abe – (novella) writing
2007: U Tours – (film) producing
2007: Obviously – (short story) writing
2007: Hot Pursuit – (play) writing, directing, producing and performing
2007: Haiti Held Hostage – (play) writing, directing, producing, and performing
2008: Polite Conversation – (stand up comedy) writing, directing, performing
2008: Scandals and Schemes – (play) writing, directing, producing and performing
2008: Sir. Cook, the Knight? – (children’s novel) writing
2008: That’s Entertainment – (anthology) writing
© erikwilliammortensen.com 2007 - Design by PLink