Katrina Dunn | |
---|---|
Born | British Columbia, Canada |
Nationality | Canadian |
Education | Simon Fraser University National Theatre School of Canada |
Occupation(s) | theatre director, producer |
Years active | 1989 – present |
Katrina Dunn (born in British Columbia, Canada) is an actor, director, and producer. She was the artistic director of Touchstone Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 1997 to 2016. [1] [2] [3]
Dunn trained in dance at Simon Fraser University and at the National Theatre School of Canada. [1] In 1989, Dunn co-founded Vancouver's Ruby Slippers Theatre and was its initial Artistic Director. [1] Dunn left Ruby Slippers when she was appointed as Artistic Director of Touchstone Theatre in 1997. Under her direction, Touchstone has developed a focus on Canadian plays. [2] [3]
In 2003, Dunn co-founded the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival along with Norman Armour, a performing arts festival held every January in Vancouver. [1] [3] [4] [5]
Dunn served as an intern director for five months during the 2005 Shaw Festival. In addition to assisting other directors, Dunn was given the opportunity to direct a production of J.M. Synge's In the Shadow of the Glen. [6]
Dunn was also an organizer of the Vancouver Wrecking Ball, a loose organization of theatre companies and artists advocating for the arts through cabarets featuring short plays and performances with strong political themes. [7]
In addition to directing and producing, Dunn taught theatre at the University of British Columbia. Through Touchstone Theatre, she also teaches a course recognized by the Law Society of British Columbia on theatre techniques applicable to a legal practice. In 2011, Dunn began graduate work at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on the spatial aspects of theatre and on ecocritical theatre. She currently teaches in the theatre program at the University of Manitoba. [8]
Dunn's work has garnered numerous nominations and awards. Over a number of years, she has been nominated multiple times for Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards in several categories. [2] [9] She has won twice for direction: in 2001 for Michael Healey's Kicked and in 2010 (as co-director) for Judith Thompson's Palace of the End. [2] [9] In 2010, Dunn was recognized by the Women's Caucus of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, who awarded her with its "Bra D'Or" (Golden Bra) for supporting and promoting the work of Canadian female playwrights. [10]
Dunn has directed works for numerous theatre, dance and musical companies, such as Grinning Dragon Theatre, Battery Opera, Current Sound Opera(tions), The Hard Rubber Orchestra, and Mascall Dance. [1] Dunn's work has included:. [2] [6] [9] [11]
Joy Dorothy Coghill-Thorne, CM, was a Canadian actress, director, and writer. Her obituary in The Vancouver Sun described her as having had "a seven-decade run at the top of the Vancouver theatre world."
Bard on the Beach is Western Canada's largest professional Shakespeare festival. The theatre festival runs annually from early June through September in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The festival is produced by Bard on the Beach Theatre Society whose mandate is to provide Vancouver residents and tourists with affordable, accessible Shakespearean productions of the finest quality. In addition to the annual summer festival, the Society runs a number of year-round theatre education and training initiatives for both the artistic community and the general community at large. Bard on the Beach celebrated its 30th anniversary season in 2019.
Anna Cummer is a Canadian actress. She was born in Singapore to Canadian parents. She spent half of her adolescence in Southeast Asia and the other half in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She finished high school in Hong Kong at the French International School of Hong Kong and studied drama in England where she completed the Master of Performing Arts. Since returning to Canada in 2001, Cummer has put her talents to good use as a voiceover artist, working in film and television, and performing in theatrical productions. As a voice actress, Cummer is best known as the voice of Mea from Popotan, Nozomi Daichi from The Daichis and Miyu Kuroi from the Mega Man NT Warrior series.
The Arts Club Theatre Company is a Canadian professional theatre company in Vancouver, British Columbia, founded in 1958. It is the largest urban not-for-profit theatre company in the country and the largest in Western Canada, with productions taking place at the 650-seat Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, the 440-seat Granville Island Stage, the 250-seat Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre, and on tour around the province. The company celebrated its 50th season in 2014 and produced its 600th production in 2017.
Marie Clements is a Canadian Métis playwright, performer, director, producer and screenwriter. She was the founding artistic director of Urban Ink Productions, and is currently co-artistic director of Red Diva Projects, and director of her new film company Working Pajama Lab Entertainment. Clements lives on Galiano Island, British Columbia. As a writer she has worked in a variety of media including theatre, performance, film, multi-media, radio and television.
Studio 58 is the professional theatre training school at Langara College in Vancouver, British Columbia. The school offers a three-year diploma program for acting students and a three-year diploma program for production students. It is regarded as one of the top theatre schools in Canada and the only conservatory-style theatre training program in Western Canada.
Kathryn Shaw is a Canadian director, actor, and writer living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. From 1985 to 2020 she was the Artistic Director of Studio 58, a boring acting and production training school at Langara College.
Touchstone Theatre is a professional theatre company in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1976 by a group of University of British Columbia theatre graduates. Touchstone's focus is on the development and production of Canadian works. Since 2016, the Artistic Director has been Roy Surette, who previously held the position in the 1990s. Former Artistic Directors are Ian Fenwick, Gordon McCall, John Cooper and Katrina Dunn, who served in that position from 1997 to 2016.
November Theatre is a Canadian theatre company that started in Edmonton, Alberta but is now based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company's Artistic Producer is Michael Scholar, Jr.
John Paterson is a Canadian director, devisor, dramaturg, translator, actor and theatre creator who works across Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. His favourite credits include directing the installation of The List (BoucheWHACKED!), the site-specific The Women of Troy and F. Garcia Lorca’s The Love of Don Perlimplin for Belisa ; production dramaturgy on the English language premiere of H. Muller’s Macbeth: nach Shakespeare; and playing Adolf Hitler and Walt Disney in The Blue Light and Scheffler in The Ugly One.
Carousel Theatre is a professional theatre company for young audiences located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company stages plays for young people, families and educators at the Waterfront Theatre and Performance Works on Granville Island and tours to elementary schools across British Columbia and Canada. It was also the first Canadian theatre company to offer signing during its performances for the hearing impaired. Carousel Theatre is a member of PACT, the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.
The Jessie Richardson Theatre Award is given to recognize achievement in professional theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Jessies are presented by the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award Society, at an annual ceremony. The awards are named after Jessie Richardson, co-founder of the Playhouse Holiday Theatre, local actor, director and designer.
The PuSh International Performing Arts Festival is produced over three weeks each winter on the unceded and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ first nations, primarily in the territory that was the seasonal and ancestral village of K’emk’emeláy, colloquially known as Vancouver, British Columbia.
Jennifer Lines is a Canadian theatre and television actress.
Scott Bellis is a Vancouver-based Canadian actor, director and theatre instructor. He has been working out of Vancouver since 1987. He was appointed as President of Canadian Actors' Equity Association in November 2017, having served as Councillor since 2012.
Andy Thompson is a Canadian actor, theatre artist, filmmaker and teacher.
Jan "JD" Derbyshire is a Canadian theatre artist, comedian, and writer. They have performed their one-person show, Certified, across Canada, including in Vancouver where it won two Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards.
Realwheels Theatre is a Canadian disability theatre company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Realwheels was founded in 2003 by James Sanders and has since received multiple Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards and nominations.
Theatre Terrific, also known as the Theatre Terrific Society, is a Canadian disability theatre company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is western Canada's oldest disability theatre company.
Corey Payette is a Canadian theatre and film writer, songwriter, and director based in Vancouver, British Columbia.