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Iogna, Luciano

Luciano Iogna
Luciano Iogna

Director, playwright, actor, instructor, designer, Luciano Iogna was born in Ottawa Ontario in 1953, and graduated from Queen's University with a B.A. in Drama and Film. He has been working in theatre and film across Canada and internationally for more than thirty-five years. Using Theatre of the Oppressed methodologies on issues and themes as diverse as AIDS and health, homelessness and poverty, discrimination, workplace safety, sexual abuse and violence, he has created theatre as a tool for social change.

Iogna co-founded and co-directed Divine Horseman Productions in Kingston, Ontario in 1975 (with Geoff Swift and Ralph Peters), using improvisational techniques based on the teachings of Keith Johnstone. In 1978 he moved to Edmonton Alberta to become an assistant director and resident lighting designer at Theatre 3. He was twice nominated for a Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards (Sterling Awards) for lighting design (Simon Gray's Otherwise Engaged for Theatre 3 and Sharon Stearns's Hooking for Paradise for Workshop West Theatre). He then worked at the Citadel Theatre as an assistant director, and directed the hugely successful Androcles and the Lion for Citadel's Children's Theatre. During that same period, he founded Edmonton Theatre Workshop - a creative environment for Edmonton theatre artists to explore new skills (directing actor Robert Clinton's first three plays at the Edmonton International Fringe Festival - all Alberta Culture award-winners). In 1983 he directed the Beyond the End of Your Nose for Winnipeg's Prairie Theatre Exchange.

Returning to Toronto in 1985, Iogna worked with Second Look Community Arts to implement Forum Theatre with communities around social issues where he directed several Second Look productions (including award-winning What’s Wrong with this Picture? and the award-winning film based on the play). Through the 1990s, he performed and/or directed productions with innovative theatre groups Ground Zero Productions (Fair is Fair); Company of Sirens (Speak Legal, The Catherine Wheel); and Passionate Balance Theatre (Collateral Damages, It’s My Life), many of which were collaborative/collective creations. He has also worked with Bill Usher's BamBoom Productions, directing stage productions and music videos (Baby Boomer with a Drum).

Iogna has written, directed or performed in over 80 productions with Mixed Company Theatre and Cobblestone Theatre (Breaking the Cycle, How Can You Tell?, Showdown, Sacred Law, Cinderella 2001, Wild Child, Just Another Day, The 10% Reality, What If…?, Mixed Messages). The direct and intended effect of several of these productions has led to legislative changes at the municipal and provincial levels.

Since 1993, Luciano Iogna has been performing, directing and teaching internationally. As a guest instructor, he has led numerous theatre workshops across Canada and around the world. His articles have appeared in Transmissions and Tiyatro Yapım, and he co-authored the book Haydi Çocuklar Sahneye (Participatory Children's Theatre) with Nihal Kuyumcu in Turkey. Two of his Forum Theatre plays for Young Audiences (Showdown and How Can You Tell? by Mixed Company Theatre), were nominated for Dora Mavor Moore Awards and have been translated into several languages.

Last updated 2009-08-20