Richard Rose

Richard Rose (born January 18, 1955) is a Canadian theatre director, most noted as the former artistic director of the Toronto theatre companies Necessary Angel and Tarragon Theatre.

Background He was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and raised in Sudbury, Ontario. He studied theatre at York University.

Career He was the founding artistic director of Necessary Angel in 1978. which won numerous Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 1982 including Best Director for Rose. Following the success of Tamara, he collaborated with Thom Sokoloski, the artistic director of Theatre Autumn Leaf, to create Autumn Angel Repertory, who won the Dora for Outstanding New Play in 1984 for Mein.

In 1989 he attracted acclaim for his theatrical adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel Coming Through Slaughter, cowritten with Ondaatje and D.D. Kugler.

He also directed the short film Giant Steps, which screened at the 1992 Toronto International Film Festival, and served for three years as director of the youth company at the Stratford Festival. His role with the company was marked by brief controversy in 2012 when Michael Healey resigned as the company's playwright in residence after Rose declined to produce his play Proud,

In 2024, he was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada. He lives in Toronto.

Awards Award Year Category Work Result Ref(s) Dora Mavor Moore Awards 1982 Outstanding Direction of a Play, General Theatre Tamara 1984 Meinwith Stewart Arnott, Ines Ruchli, Mark Christmann, Dorian Clark, Denis Forest, Maggie Huculak, Tanja Jacobs, Susan McKenzie 1990 Best Original Play, General Theatre Coming Through Slaughterwith Michael Ondaatje, D.D. Kugler Outstanding Direction of a Play, General Theatre The Europeans 1993 Outstanding Direction of a Play, Midsize Theatre Glenn 1996 Seven Lears 1998 Outstanding Direction of a Play, General Theatre Inexpressible Island 2004 Remnants Simpl 2006 Léo 2007 Scorched 2010 Courageous 2014 A God in Need of Help 2015 An Enemy of the People 2018 Hamlet