Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Desprez, Ross
Actor, director, playwright, Ross Desprez was born in Vancouver British Columbia, and was raised in Nanaimo. He graduated from Malaspina College, and acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre and a Masters degree in directing from the University of Victoria . He apprenticed with the Manitoba Theatre Centre as an actor and stage manager in 1984. He is currently an instructor in the theatre department. at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, where he has directed numerous productions.
Since 2000 he has been Artistic Director of The Other Guys Theatre Company, for which he created/directed Moodyville Tales, a Canadian folk musical; Sex, the musical; the musical revue, Flotsam & Jetsam: Life on the West Coast (2016); and SlugFest, a musical comedy set in a slug-infested Vancouver Island community, where the residents discover that slug slim as a medical miracle, and are determined to reap the harvest, despite environmental consequences.
Other writing projects include Carmanah Man, A Good Person?, several seasons with the politically incorrect comedy troupe The Five White Guys, and his own one-man musical The Ballad of Phil Ochs (Vancouver Fringe 1988), which toured across Canada, and which inspired the writing of The Ballad of Jim Pane (for which he also wrote original music), produced at the Belfry Theatre.
He has appeared in several musical productions at the Belfry Theatre including The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, The Three Penny Opera, Pump Boys and Dinettes, and Lies and Legends. He co-starred with Joelle Rabu in TheatreOne's musical production of Hot Flashes in 2002.
Directing credits include: Featuring Loretta, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, Eathan Claymore, and The Love List for the Belfry; and Of Mice and Men for Langham Court.
Last updated 2020-07-10
Since October 2002, Athabasca University has hosted the web site, with an editorial board of theatre scholars from across Canada.
To submit an entry, please consult the guidelines for submissions.
Email your submission to: Anne Nothof, Professor Emerita, Athabasca University.
The Encyclopedia collects and disseminates information on plays, playwrights and theatre practitioners. It does not respond to requests for information, auditions, bookings, or tickets.
The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia web site was originally conceived and developed in 1996 by Gaetan Charlebois—theatre critic, playwright, and actor.
