Daniel Brooks

Daniel Brooks (23 June 1958 – 22 May 2023) was a Canadian theatre director, actor, and playwright. He was 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 on 23 June 1958. He graduated from the drama program at University College.

Career

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

Brooks also collaborated with John Mighton, Don McKellar, Rick Miller, Bruce McDonald, Diego Matamoros, Tracy Wright and the Leslie Spit Treeo.

Brooks 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]

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

In 2022, Brooks performed a final one-man show entitled Other People.

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 seven productions including Samuel Beckett's Endgame (play) in 1999 and Waiting for Godot (featuring Rick Roberts (actor)) in 2017. His last directed work in Toronto was Anton Chekov's The Seagull which played to sold-out houses and positive reviews.[7]

Companies

Brooks was also 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 to 2012.

Death

Brooks died in Toronto on 22 May 2023, at the age of 64. He was diagnosed with lung cancer five years prior to his death.[8] Brooks is survived by two daughters.

Awards and recognition

Brooks 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.

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

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
  7. "Review: The Seagull: Director Daniel Brooks brings Chekhov back to Soulpepper, cheeky and cutthroat". The Globe and Mail. 2023-04-16. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  8. Canadian theatre director Daniel Brooks, first Siminovitch Prize winner, dies at 64
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