User:Michael bawtree

Michael Bawtree has worked in Canadian theatre and television for over 40 years, as playwright, director, educator, actor, TV host and producer. He was the founding head of the drama program at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. He was an Associate Director of the Stratford Festival, Ontario, under Jean Gascon. He founded COMUS Music Theatre in Toronto with Maureen Forrester, and founded and directed the internationally recognized Music Theatre Studio Ensemble at the Banff Centre, Alberta. His book The New Singing Theatre was published by Oxford NY in 1991. He has directed plays and music theatre not only in Canada but in the USA, and also in Finland: a total of over 60 productions.

Michael was Professor and Director of Drama at Acadia University from 1990 until his retirement in 2003. He was also the guiding spirit behind the establishment in 1995 of the Atlantic Theatre Festival, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, which he served as Artistic Director for its first four seasons, directing seven Festival productions. He is the author of four plays, including The Last of the Tsars, commissioned by the Stratford Festival, which was premiered in 1966 at the Festival, and published by Clarke, Irwin in 1971; and Sarah Bernhardt and the Beast, written for celebrated Quebec actress Monique Leyrac, who performed it in Montreal, Kingston and Ottawa in 1990-1, in French and English. When the Atlantic Theatre Festival fell on hard times in 2004, Michael served as Vice-Chair and Renewal Director for the Festival’s re-birth, guiding its return to the stage, and stepping down in 2007 after leading it to a successful revival season. But after its sad demise later in 2007, Michael took a lead role in organizing the wind-up of the Festival’s affairs. He has also continued to work for the future of professional theatre in the Annapolis Valley, leading the re-incorporation of Theatre Arts Festival International (founded in 1970 by Jack Sheriff), to serve once again as a vehicle for theatre projects.

In 2004 Michael Bawtree served as executive director of the Joseph Howe Initiative, which he founded to celebrate the 200th birthday of the great Nova Scotian. For the birthday year, he co-wrote and published Today’s Joe Howe, an introduction to Howe’s life and achievements, and also wrote the award-winning Joe Howe To The Rescue (published by Nimbus), a historical novel introducing Howe to younger readers. He also appeared as Joseph Howe on more than a dozen public occasions, and on CBC radio and television. He performed his version of Howe’s famous libel defence speech of 1835 in Halifax and also in Boston, Massachusetts.

The Joseph Howe Initiative spearheaded a series of over twenty occasions and ceremonies during the birthday year, including the creation of the Joseph Howe Exhibition at Province House. These culminated in a birthday party at Government House on December 13th – Howe’s actual 200th birthday – under the patronage of the then Lieutenant-Governor, Her Honour Myra J. Freeman.

During 2008 Michael was called upon by the Democracy250 project to portray Joseph Howe again, appearing alongside former premiers Russell MacLellan and John Hamm in many ceremonies throughout Nova Scotia and also in Ottawa, Boston Mass., and London UK. For these occasions he wrote Howe’s speeches himself, using the opportunity to share Howe’s views on life and politics from the vantage point of the nineteenth century.

In the summer of 2008 Michael was commissioned by a service organization to create and perform a one-man show commemorating the 65th anniversary of D-Day, with proceeds to go to Service Charities. He toured his commemoration performance in the UK in the Fall of 2008, and has recently completed a DVD version, shot and edited in the Annapolis Valley, to be available for sale for the same Charities serving the armed forces.

Michael resides in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.