Barry Freeman

Biography

Barry Freeman is an Associate Professor of Theatre and Performance at the University of Toronto Scarborough and the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies with a cross-appointment to the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at OISE/UofT. He is the author Staging Strangers: Theatre & Global Ethics (2017), co-editor with Kathleen Gallagher of In Defence of Theatre: Practices and Social Interventions (2016) and served from 2011-22 as Associate Editor of Canadian Theatre Review, during which time he co/edited 8 special issues and co/authored 15 articles on issues of importance to contemporary Canadian theatre and performance.

Barry’s current research is focused on theatre pedagogy and education, particularly in Canada. His main research project since 2019 is Belongings: On the Virtues and Values of Drama, Theatre and Performance Education in Canada, which is a national, empirical survey and analysis of post-secondary liberal arts and professional training in Canada. In 2022, he joined the team of Staging Better Futures / Mettre en scène de meilleurs avenirs, a long-term, cross-Canada, bilingual project that responds directly to the many public calls for action against colonialism, racism and sexism in post-secondary theatre training. Barry’s goal is to produce research that will help build open-access, non-competitive resources, programming and supports for theatre educators.

Education

M.A. and Ph.D University of Toronto

Affiliations

University of Toronto Scarborough (undergraduate)
Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies (graduate)
Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (cross-appointment)

Teaching Interests

Canadian Theatre, Theatre History, Intercultural Performance, Education and Pedagogy

Research Interests

Theatre and Performance in Canada, Education and Pedagogy, Ethics and Interculturalism

Awards and Grants

Recent Award
2018 Nathan Cohen Award for Excellence in Critical Writing from the Canadian Theatre Critics Association
2018  Honourable Mention for the Anne Saddlemyer Award for best book published in English for the year from the Canadian Association for Theatre Research

Recent Grants
2022 UTSC Experiential Education Development Grant, $8,750
2022 UTSC Experiential Education Tier II Grant (co-applicant), $20,000
2020 SSHRC Connections Grant (co-applicant), $10,980
2019 UTSC VPR Research Competitiveness Fund, $10,000

Publications

Recent Articles, Book Capters, Journal Issues

• Staging Strangers: Theatre and Global Ethics. McGill-Queen's University Press. 2017.
• In Defence of Theatre: Aesthetic Practices and Social Interventions, co-edited with Kathleen Gallagher. University of Toronto Press. 2016.

Recent Articles, Book Chapters, Journal Issues

• 2021 Canadian Theatre Review 188 on the theme of “Pandemic: A Time Capsule” Co-edited with Natalie Alvarez and Heather Davis-Fisch. Published Fall 2021.
• 2018 Canadian Theatre Review 181 on the theme of “Applied Theatre” Co-edited with Yasmine Kandil. Published Winter 2020.
• 2019 “Education as Arts Talk? Canada’s National Arts Centre and Praxis Theatre’s SpiderWebShow,” (co-authored with Michael Wheeler) in Education and Theatres Beyond the Four Walls. Michael Finneran and Michael Anderson, eds. Springer Publishing. (6,100 words.)
• 2018 Canadian Theatre Review 180 on the theme of “#TimesUp” Co-edited with CTR Editorial Team. Published Summer 2019.
• 2017 “In Need of a Good Story: Understanding Come From Away’s Warm Reception,” Canadian Theatre Review 171. (3,000 words). 
  *** Winner of Nathan Cohen Award for Excellence in Critical Writing from the Canadian Theatre Critics Association ***
• 2017 “Theatre for a Changeable World, or Making Room for a Fire," in In Defence of Theatre: Aesthetic Practices and Social Interventions. Barry Freeman and Kathleen Gallagher, eds. University of Toronto. (6,500 words)
• 2016 “Joey Walks the Old Lost Land in Artistic Fraud’s The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.” Canadian Theatre Review 166 (3,000 words).

Performances

10 out of 12 by Anne Washburn Leigha Lee Browne Theatre, March 2018 Director: Barry Freeman Assistant Director: Tamara Vojinovic Producer: Katy Harris Stage Manager: Kaelan Klith Musical Director: Lynn Tucker Scenic Design: Kevin Wright and Colin Harris Sound Design: Kevin Wright and Barry Freeman

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht, Adapted by Alistair Beaton and with Original Music composed by Alexander Rapoport Leigha Lee Browne Theatre, March 2016 Director: Barry Freeman Assistant Director: Ryan James Producer: Natasha de Sao Jose Stage Manager: Thomas Mackrell Musical Director: Lynn Tucker Scenic Design Kevin Wright and Colin Harris

The Rouge Park Project Community-Engaged Verbatim Theatre Project  A collaboration with the David Suzuki Foundation Leigha Lee Browne Theatre and UTSC Campus Grounds, April 2012 Assistant Director: Dr. Natalie Frijia Research Dramaturge: Jay Smith

East of Tarragon (former title: "Arts on the Road") “A launchpad for young creatives in the Eastern GTA,” East of Tarragon is an annual community-engaged theatre project in partnership with Tarragon Theatre, Scarborough Arts and local high schools. Past projects include: a site-specific staging of James Reaney's play The Donnellys and The DQ Plays, short site-specific plays by local high school drama students. Faculty Liaison: Barry Freeman   Image description: A group photo of student actors from R.H.King Academy and student directors from Theatre & Performance program in ACM. Taken on 12 May 2018.

Graduate Student Supervision & Mentorship

2019+ Ross Slaughter, Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies “Videocabaret: Performing The History of the Village of the Small Huts”
2017+ Julia Mathias, Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies “Negotiating Ethnic “Otherness” in Neo-Burlesque Striptease” (ABD)
2019+ Grahame Renyk, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, OISE, UofT “Come From Away/Come From Here: Theorizing Canadian stage musicals at home and abroad”