March 29, 2017

2017-18 Theatre @ York Directors Announced

At the season announcement for our exciting 2017-18 Season, Dept. of Theatre Chair Ines Buchli shared that the three outside directors for the season will be Ross Manson (Volcano Theatre), Peter Hinton, and Keira Loughran.

Ross Manson
Ross Manson

Ross Manson is an actor, director, and translator, and the founding Artistic Director of Volcano (“The explosive company from Canada” – The Independent, UK). Volcano specializes in projects that explore compelling social and artistic territories in innovative ways, often inventing multi-disciplinary styles of performance or development tailor-made to the idea at hand. Ross has directed across Canada and around the world – for Tarragon; Canadian Stage; Svenska Theatre, Helsinki; Third Wall, Ottawa; Canada Dance Festival, among others. His over 20 shows for Volcano have earned over 40 Dora nominations and 11 wins, 2 Governor General Award nominations, The Carol Tambor Foundation “Best of Edinburgh” Award, a Scotsman Fringe First Award (Edinburgh), the NOW People’s Choice Award (Toronto), The Dublin International Fringe Best Design Award, and a Chalmers National Play Award (Canada), among others. Ross has been nominated for many Dora Awards in directing, acting, playwriting, and producing (winning once for Outstanding Direction, once for Outstanding New Play, and twice for Best Production). He is the winner of both a Harold Award for community service, and a KM Hunter Award for excellence as an emerging theatre artist. He was a finalist for the 2009 Rita Davies and Margo Bindhardt Cultural Leadership Award in Toronto, the 2009 Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the 2010 and 2016 Siminovitch Prize in Directing.

Peter Hinton
Peter Hinton

Peter Hinton is one of Canada’s most respected directors and teachers. He has been directing classical and contemporary plays for the past 30 years. Recent credits include: CONSTELLATIONS, Canadian Stage BOMBAY BLACK, Factory Theatre, ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, The Shakespeare Company (Calgary) MILLENIAL MALCONTENT, Tarragon Theatre, THE REZ SISTERS, Belfry Theatre (Victoria), FUNNY GIRL, and THE SEAGULL for the Segal Centre in Montreal. Currently, he is directing the revival of Harry Somers LOUIS RIEL for the Canadian Opera Company. For the Shaw Festival he has directed, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, PYGMALION, CABARET, LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN, WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING, and will direct the Canadian premiere of Branden Jacobs -Jenkins AN OCTOROON this summer. From 2005-2012, Peter was Artistic Director of English Theatre at Canada’s National Arts Centre in Ottawa, productions included contemporary re-stagings of classical plays; KING LEAR, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, THE WAY OF THE WORLD, MACBETH, and ROMEO AND JULIET, as well as premieres of new Canadian works THE WRONG SON by Allen Cole, and COPPER THUNDERBIRD by Marie Clements.  Peter was associate artist at The Stratford Festival of Canada for 7 seasons, directing, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, SHAKESPEARE’S UNIVERSE, THE DUCHESS OF MALFI, THE ODYSSEY, FANNY KEMBLE, INTO THE WOODS, and all three parts of his own verse trilogy entitled, THE SWANNE. Peter has taught at the National Theatre School of Canada, Ryerson University and since 2012 he has been the professional mentor for the York University/Canadian Stage MFA program in directing. In 2009, Peter was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Keira Loughran
Keira Loughran

Hailing from Toronto, Keira Loughran has been pushing the boundaries of Canadian theatre for over 20 years as a director, producer, actor, dramaturg and playwright with companies across the country. She currently serves as Associate Producer for the Forum and Laboratory at the Stratford Festival, spearheading organizational change through these initiatives, working with Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. Last year, she directed the critically acclaimed production of THE AENEID at the Festival and this season she will be directing THE KOMAGATA MARU INCIDENT there. Other productions she has directed include TITUS ANDRONICUS for Canadian Stage, PU-ERH for which she received a Dora nomination for Outstanding Direction, and LITTLE DRAGON – a play she also wrote, and performed in. Prior to Stratford, she was Artistic Producer of the SummerWorks Festival from 2005-2007. Her company K’Now Theatre, dedicated to contemporary, culturally diverse, and socially relevant theatre, has produced two shows, garnering seven Dora nominations and winning three. Prior to her theatre training in the University of Alberta’s B.F.A Acting Program, she was a Philosophy Major at York University. She is pleased for the opportunity to be back at York for this production.