Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Richmond, Brian
Director trained at Vancouver's Holiday Theatre and Ecole Lecoq in Paris, France. Brian Richmond studied English and philosophy as an undergraduate, and received his M.A. from the University of Toronto.
Brian Richmond was the founding Artistic Director of Persephone Theatre (1974-77). While he was there he directed, among other works, the world premiere of Ken Mitchell's Cruel Tears. He has also served as Artistic Director for Playwrights' Workshop (1980-82), Thunder Bay's Magnus Theatre (1983-87), and Theatre Passe Muraille (1988-91). In 2009 he founded Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre in Victoria to facilitate the development of young theatre artists, and to produce canonical plays.
He has directed over 80 productions at venues across the country including Arts Club Theatre (a celebrated production of Michel Tremblay's Bonjour, la, bonjour); and the English-language premiere at Passe-Muraille of Michel Marc Bouchard's Les feluettes/Lilies. For Magnus Theatre he directed the David S. Young/Paul Ledoux works Fire (for which he won a Dora Mavor Moore Award);Love is Strange (a renaming of I Love You, Anne Murray, with Anne Wright as the legendary Canadian singer); and James W. Nichol's adaptation of Margaret Laurence's The Stone Angel.
A noted dramaturg, he has worked with many of the Canada's leading playwrights including George Ryga on Prometheus Bound, Sharon Pollock on Moving Pictures and Tomson Highway on Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing.
He is currently a Professor at the University of Victoria, where he has directed many student productions, and was Chair of the Department of Theatre for two terms, from 2001 to 2008.
He is married to actor Thea Gill. His son (with his first wife Janet Wright) is Montreal playwright and actor Jacob Richmond.
Profile by Gaetan Charlebois. Additional information provided by Peter Eliot Weiss and Colin Plant.
Last updated 2021-04-09
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