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Ken Gass
Ken Gass is a playwright/director
born in Abbotsford, British Columbia. He studied theatre and creative
writing at the University of British Columbia, before moving to Toronto
in 1968 to teach high school English. He first directed at Theatre Passe
Muraille and with John Herbert’s Garrett Theatre.
Almost from his professional
debut, Ken Gass was a proponent of alternative and experimental theatre,
helping to organize Toronto’s Festival of Underground Theatre. In
1970 he founded the Factory Theatre Lab, with a mandate to pursue unconventional
programming, and to develop new Canadian works. He remained its artistic
director until 1979.
Gass has been a teacher at
the University of Toronto and Concordia University. In 1985 he founded
the Canadian Rep Theatre. The company’s goals were not only to premiere
new works but also to reinvestigate works from Canada’s dramatic literary
past. In 1997, as Factory Theatre was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy,
he once again assumed the position of Artistic Director.
During this second tenure,
he has directed the Factory Theatre productions of Ian Ross’s fareWel,
John Mighton’s A Short History of Night (both in 1999), Florence
Gibson’s Belle (February, 2000) and the National Theatre School
productions of Walker’s Better Living and Escape From Happiness
(February, 2002).
His plays include: Hurray
for Johnny Canuck (Factory, 1974), The Boy Bishop (Factory,
1977), Claudius (Canadian Rep, 1993) and Amazon Dream
(Canadian Rep, 1994).
Ken Gass also writes for television
and radio.
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