Daniel Brooks

Daniel Brooks (born 23 June 1958) is a Canadian theatre director, actor and playwright. He is well known in the Toronto theatre scene for his innovative productions and script-writing collaborations.

For the English golfer, see Daniel Brooks (golfer). For the Canadian biologist, see Daniel R. Brooks.

Early life

Brooks was born in Toronto, Ontario. He graduated from the drama program at University College.

Career

Brooks has collaborated in the creation of several solo shows by Daniel MacIvor, including House, Here Lies Henry, The Lorca Play and Monster.[1].

He has also collaborated with John Mighton, Don McKellar, Rick Miller (comedian), Bruce McDonald (director), Diego Matamoros, Tracy Wright and the Leslie Spit Treeo.

He worked with Guillermo Verdecchia to develop The Noam Chomsky Lectures and Insomnia. In 2001, Brooks was the recipient of the inaugural Siminovitch Prize in Theatre.[2]

In 2007, Brooks wrote a play called The Eco Show.[3] In 2011 he worked with Michael Ondaatje to create a play based on Ondaatje's novel Divisadero.[4]

A further collaboration with MacIvor, Who Killed Spalding Gray?, premiered in 2014 at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[1]

He collaborated with fellow Siminovitch Prize-winner Kim Collier on two separate works in 2018-19.

Classics

Brooks played the lead in a 1981 production of Hamlet directed by Ken Gass. Brooks directed Goethe's Faust for the Tarragon Theatre in 1999 and Oedipus Rex at Stratford Festival in 2015.[3]

In 2016, Brooks staged a version of Henrik Ibsen's play A Doll House, adapted to a modern setting.[5][6]. For Soulpepper he directed Samuel Beckett's Endgame (play) in 1999 and Waiting for Godot in 2017.

Companies

Brooks was formerly co-director of the Augusta Company; co-director of the da da kamera company; playwright-in-residence at the Tarragon Theatre; and director of the Necessary Angel company from 2003-2012.

Awards and Recognition

Brooks has won the following awards:

the Chalmers Award; the Dora Mavor Moore Award (three times); the Pauline McGibbon Award; the Edinburgh Fringe First Award; the Capital Critics Circle Award; and the inaugural Elinore and Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre.

He was also nominated for a Governor General's Award.

gollark: I mean a star image.
gollark: Good, since I didn't explain it.
gollark: You can Fourier-transform images. I have a bunch of things using that.
gollark: Idea: invert the Fourier transform of a star to generate an unstar.
gollark: Yes, that is part of why.

References
  1. "Two Daniels’ latest collaboration conjures the dead". Toronto Star, November 28, 2016. Karen Fricker.
  2. "Crow's Theatre artistic director Chris Abraham wins prestigious Siminovitch Prize". Toronto Star. Richard Ouzounian, Oct. 21, 2013
  3. " Stratford’s Oedipus Rex wrings the full emotional power from this ancient play". J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail, Jul. 24, 2015
  4. "How Michael Ondaatje and Daniel Brooks made 'Divisadero' into a play". Kate Taylor, Toronto — The Globe and Mail, Feb. 04, 2011
  5. "Daniel Brooks’s Soulpepper production of A Doll’s House loses itself in attempts to stay contemporary". National Post, Robert Cushman | August 16, 2016
  6. "Modernized Doll's House gets feminist message across: review". Toronto Star, Carly Maga, July 28, 2016
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