Announcing Bruce Pitkin as Full-Time Executive Director

Bruce Pitkin

Theatre Ontario is pleased to announce that Bruce Pitkin has been hired as Executive Director; he has been serving as interim Executive Director since March 2014.

“We are very excited to enter this new phase with Bruce Pitkin,” said Joanne Williams, Member-at-Large on the Board of Directors, and a member of the Search Committee. “We are encouraged by Bruce’s determination to bring new initiatives to Theatre Ontario and his attention to the organization’s viability for years to come. With his unique background, he is someone who will strengthen our place in the many vibrant theatrical communities across the province.”

Bruce has been a member of the Theatre Ontario staff since February 2013. He is a trained theatre artist who has performed, directed, produced, and taught in Japan, Germany, the United States, and Canada. Since earning an MFA in Performance from York University, he has worked with the Tadashi Suzuki Company (Japan) and Shakespeare & Company (Boston). He was the Artistic Director at both the Acting Academy (Munich) and the International Michael Chekhov School of Acting (Munich), and taught Shakespeare and Scene Study at the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts in Toronto since 2007. In 2013, he was named in NOW Magazine’s Top Ten Artists to Watch for his directing work.

In addition to his extensive theatre background, his business experience in marketing and digital media has included working with such organizations as TeleFilm Canada, Canada Media Fund, Capital C Communications, Adeo Communications, Digital Media Studios, alleswirdgut—Agency for Creative Direction (Munich), Schaeffler und Partner Multimedia (Munich), BioID AG (Berlin) and Dialog Communication Systems (Taiwan).

“I am thrilled and honoured for the opportunity to lead Theatre Ontario as we continue to serve our existing members, as well as reaching out to new ones,” Bruce said.  “Delivering timely, top quality programs, which are accessible to theatre’s diverse practitioners and aficionados across the province, is a priority and I welcome the valuable input from all. I look forward to continue working with our incomparable staff and talented Board of Directors in keeping Theatre Ontario top of mind.”

Theatre Ontario develops and supports theatre practitioners across the province by providing resources, networking, training and advocacy.  We are a charitable, not-for-profit association serving community, educational and professional theatre organizations and individuals through a range of programs and services.