Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Brooks, Daniel
Multi-talented theatre practitioner with over two decades of experience, Daniel Brooks has worked as a director writer, actor, producer, and teacher. He was born in Toronto, Ontario , June 23, 1958.
One of his earliest outings was as a director in a theatrical adaptation of the movie All About Eve called Evening (1981). He played the lead in the Ken Gass production of Hamlet (1981).
Since then, he has become a mainstay of this country's theatre, working with a network of Ontario-based writers, playwrights and directors who virtually define the current scene ( Guillermo Verdecchia , Daniel MacIvor and John Mighton , among them). He has been co-director of The Augusta Company and da da kamera , and playwright in residence at Tarragon Theatre . He is currently Artistic Director of The Necessary Angel Theatre Company.
Among his works as a writer are The Return of Pokey Jones (premiered at Poor Alex Theatre, 1985, directed by Chris Pinker), The Noam Chomsky Lectures (with Verdecchia, Great Canadian Theatre Company , 1992, co-directed with Verdecchia), The Lorca Play (with MacIvor, The Theatre Centre, 1992, co-directed with MacIvor), Here Lies Henry (with MacIvor, Buddies in Bad Times , 1996, co-directed with MacIvor), Insomnia (with Verdecchia, The Theatre Centre, 1997, Verdecchia), and This is What Happens Next with MacIvor (Necessary Angel at Canadian Stage Berkeley St. 2010).
He has directed several works other than his own, notably MacIvor's House (1992); Mighton's Possible Worlds (1998); Faust ( Tarragon Theatre 1999); and Soulpepper 's production of Beckett's Endgame (1999), which received near-unanimous critical acclaim.
He has also acted in many works, including his own, notably Pokey Jones, Possible Worlds (1990), and Insomnia.
He has won several awards, including the Chalmers (for Noam Chomsky..., Here Lies Henry, House); the Dora Mavor Moore Award three times for directing, the Edinburgh Fringe First Award (Here Lies Henry); and has been nominated for the Governor General's Award (Noam Chomsky...). In October, 2000, he won the Capital Critics Circle Award for his direction of Possible Worlds. In October, 2001, he received the first Elinore and Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre ($100,000).
He has also worked in film, notably with Bruce McDonald (whose film Highway 61 was inspired by Pokey...)
His highly innovative work has travelled across Canada and around the world.
He is married to Jennifer Ross. They have two daughters, and live in Toronto.
In December, 1999, he told Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail, about his approach to a play's production: "Text is one aspect... but it also exists not only in the breath of the actor but in space and time...It's a medium in which you can tell stories, but it's also a medium in which you can conceptualize."
Last updated 2010-03-19
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