Theatre

Our Alumni

Weyni Mengesha started her career directing 'da Kink in my Hair', helping build it into an international sensation; and composing its Dora-nominated score. The show went on to make history, selling out some of the largest houses in the country and becoming a national television show. In 2018, Mengesha was appointed the Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company in Toronto.

Weyni Mengesha Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre
Theatre BFA 2005

Tanya Palmer is the Producer and Director of New Play Development at Goodman Theatre in Chicago. She coordinates the New Stages Festival every year. She has served as dramaturg on many Goodman productions, including Vigils, The Long Red Road, and Ruined. She has also served as the Director of New Play Development at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Tanya Palmer Producer and Director of New Play Development at Goodman Theatre
Theatre MFA 2000

James Roy founded the Blyth Festival in 1975. It is one of the most successful Canadian theatre festivals. For a short period of time he was the Artistic Director the Belfry Theatre and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. He joined CBC Radio in 1990 and stayed in radio for over 20 years. He was the lead of the team that launched Radio One. He is now the president of Amazing Agency.

James Roy Founding Artistic Director of the Blyth Festival
Theatre BA 1974

Jillian Keiley is an award-winning theatre director, winning the Siminovitch Prize for Directing in 2004 and the Canada Council’s John Hirsch Prize in 1997. She founded Artistic Fraud in 1995 and became the Artistic Director of National Arts Centre English Theatre in 2012. Some of her productions have included A Christmas Carol, Twelfth Night, and Tartuffe. She frequently directs for the Stratford Festival.

Jillian Keiley Artistic Director of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre
Theatre BFA 1994

Elizabeth Bradley has had a long expansive career across North America. She was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Gold Medal for her contributions to the arts in Canada. She headed the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University before she was recruited in 2008 to serve as the Chair of the Department of Drama at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Elizabeth Bradley Former Head of Theatre at Carnegie Mellon and now Head of the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU
Theatre BFA 1976

Anusree Roy is a Dora award-winning playwright and performer. Her first piece, entitled 'breathlessness' premiered in 2006. Her play Pyassa premiered in 2007 and won two Dora Awards for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performance. She has written many plays since and won many awards, including another Dora award for Outstanding New Play in 2011 with her play Brothel #9. She continues to write and perform today.

Anusree Roy Playwright and performer
Theatre BA 2006

Richard Rose is the current Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre. Before joining the Tarragon in 2002, Richard was Founding Artistic Director at Necessary Angel from 1978 to 2002, Associate Director for Canadian Stage Company, and Director of the Stratford Festival Young Company. He has directed plays across Canada and the United States, earning him four Dora Awards and numerous other nominations.

Richard Rose Artistic Director of the Tarragon Theatre and founding artistic director of Necessary Angel Theatre Co.
Theatre BFA 1978

Luke Reece is a theatre producer, playwright, spoken word poet and arts educator. He is the Producer for Obsidian Theatre, and a Member of the Toronto Poetry Project. Reece is one of Toronto’s most decorated slam poets, becoming the Toronto Poetry Slam (TPS) Grand Champion in 2017, winning the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word as the captain of the TPS team and then again in 2018 as the team coach.

Luke Reece Canadian Slam Poetry Champion; Producer, Obsidian Theatre Company; Co-founder & Director Little Black Afro and Dark Nights
Theatre BA '15

BAKKHAI by Euripides a New Version by Anne Carson

Directed by David Jansen

“Euripides was a playwright of the fifth century BC who reinvented Greek tragedy, setting it on a path that leads straight to reality TV. His plays broke all the rules, upended convention and outraged conservative critics. The Bakkhai is his most subversive play, telling the story of a man who cannot admit he would rather live in the skin of a woman, and a god who seems to combine all sexualities into a single ruinous demand for adoration. Dionysos is the god of intoxication. Once you fall under his influence, there is no telling where you will end up.” – Anne Carson

Joseph G. Green Theatre

TICKETS
Preview Tickets: $ 9.00
Regular Tickets: $ 18.00

BOX OFFICE
416-736-5888
https://ampd.yorku.ca/boxoffice/

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CCTA2023 - All Good Things Must Begin

Climate Change Theatre Action 2023

All Good Things Must Begin is a collection of short climate plays from the 2023 Climate Change Theatre Action performed by an all female cast from the BFA Acting program at York University. The Production is being directed by Professor Jamie Robinson alongside student Assistant Directors within the Theatre program. This production will be collecting and sending donations to the Greenbelt Foundation as our contribution to the Climate Action initiatives. During the rehearsal process, York University’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Mike Layton, discussed various initiatives within the University that the Theatre program could partake in.

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YUFFA Fringe Returns from Edinburgh

York's first time back in Scotland since 2018

After pausing for the last few years due to travel restrictions, our Edinburgh Summer Program returned to Scotland in August 2023 with two projects. What Can Indian Look Like? was a series of two shows Exploring Diverse Indian Identities from Natasha Advani Thangkiew and Shaharah Gaznabbi in which they navigate diaspora, discrimination, and coming-of-age to find what Indian can mean and look like. In Aionos Set, ancient Egyptian god of chaos, mixes things up to get the views up for the daily livestream of Anubis, god of death, but trying to get some fresh young faces to go through the Trials of Arru to see if they’re worthy to pass onto the afterlife for the entertainment of a pan-pantheon of deities.

2000 sq ft

50 yrs

AMPD Launches New Virtual Tour

Eight new faces join the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design

AMPD Alumni Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival

45+ AMPD alums nominated for Canadian Screen Awards

Theatre @ York gracefully tackles bespoke David Yee play “Love in the Time of Werewolves”

BAKKHAI by Euripides a New Version by Anne Carson

CCTA2023 - All Good Things Must Begin

YUFFA Fringe Returns from Edinburgh

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