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TargetTipikor.com is a Canadian theatre director, actor, and the artistic director of Western Canada Theatre. [1] He was the first artistic director of Edmonton's FreeWill Shakespeare Festival [2] (1997-2001). From 2006-2016, he was the associate artistic director of the Citadel Theatre.
MacDonald was born in Montreal and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He was trained at the Banff School of Fine Arts, and graduated from the University of Alberta's Bachelor of Fine Arts acting program in 1989. In 1989, he was a co-founder of the Freewill Shakespeare Festival. [2] In 2002, he directed The Old Ladies by Rodney Ackland and then made his Citadel Theatre directing debut in 2004 with Stones in His Pockets, starring John Ulyatt and John Kirkpatrick.
MacDonald works as a director, actor, educator, and dramaturge for new Canadian stage plays. [3] His work as a director includes productions at the Stratford Festival ( Julius Caesar), the Shaw Festival (The Old Ladies), the Canadian Stage Company (Fire, Much Ado About Nothing , As You Like It ), The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (A Few Good Men, Sherlock Holmes and the case of the Jersey Lily), and over 15 productions at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre (Clybourne Park, Vimy, God of Carnage, Venus in Fur). As a director, dramaturge, and actor, MacDonald has been involved in the development of over 35 new Canadian plays, including his direction of Vimy (Citadel Theatre), Miss Shakespeare (Musical TheatreWorks), With a Twist (Lunchbox Theatre, Calgary), and Conni Massing's Myth of Summer (Alberta Theatre Projects), and his dramaturgy for Firehall Arts Centre's production of Chelsea Hotel: the Songs of Leonard Cohen—which has toured nationally, most recently to the Belfry Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Theatre Calgary and the Banff Centre.
As an actor, he has worked for theatres both across Canada and internationally. He created the role of Einstein in Einstein’s Gift at The Citadel Theatre. He played the main role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the Citadel Theatre's annual production of A Christmas Carol from 2011-2015. He is a regular guest instructor/director for the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting Program [4] and teaches workshops in Shakespearean text [5] and the audition process. MacDonald is a former national Councilor for the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association, and former Secretary of the Edmonton Performers’ Branch of ACTRA.
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The Freewill Shakespeare Festival is produced by The Free Will Players Theatre Guild (FWP) in Edmonton and is one of the longest running outdoor Shakespeare Festivals in Canada. FWP was formed as a not-for-profit theatre company in 1989 by a group of seven recent graduates of the U of A in a truly cooperative, pass-the-hat spirit with the mandate to produce the works of William Shakespeare. Since then, FWP has grown to an organization that employs over 50 artists, administrators, and support staff at the height of the summer season of plays and has drawn over 250,000 people to its productions. In addition, the summer season down at the Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park also has over 150 volunteers assisting with the afternoon and evening shows and special events. These volunteers put in over 4000 hours each summer.
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