Mike Griffin

Lecturer
Performance and Directing

Office: MW 309
905 688 5550 x5392
mgriffin@brocku.ca

Mike Griffin has worked across the country as a theatre educator and director. Originally from British Columbia, Mike received both a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia. He taught high school drama for four years in Langley, BC before he moved to Calgary to do his Masters of Fine Arts in Directing at the University of Calgary. During his time at the U of C, Mike went to Reggio Emilia, Italy and trained with Antonio Fava in Commedia dell’Arte. Since then, Commedia has become a major area of research for Mike, teaching classes and workshops in this style and recently being published in The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell’Arte with a chapter on the rival playwrights Carlo Goldoni and Carlo Gozzi. Also researching Commedia through staging and production, Mike has directed The Liar (Goldoni), The Dyskolos (Menander), The Servant of Two Masters (Goldoni), as well writing/directing The Wooers’ Woods for Calgary Young People’s Theatre, which was also performed for the Calgary International Children’s Festival. Mike also was the Commedia specialist and assistant director for the Canadian Premiere of One Man Two Guvnors at Theatre Calgary. In 2018, Mike wrote a new Commedia dellArte play Pantalones Palace and directed it for the Brock Mainstage. 

At Brock, Mike has taught: Voice and Speech, Movement, Mask, Commedia dell’Arte, Directing, Acting, Advanced Projects, Scene Study and text Analysis. Mike has also taught at the University of Calgary and at Red Deer College. He was also the Crake Fellow in Drama at Mt. Allison University from 2012 to 2014 where he taught Voice and Movement, Commedia, and Devised Theatre Methods and directed five productions including two new devised works, a one man show in full mask, The Dock Project, and Psyche, a physical theatre piece inspired by the myth of Cupid and Psyche. One of Mike’s interests is creating new theatre, especially works that embrace creating meaning with the body, and story telling through image, dance, gesture, music and light. Mike trained in devised theatre with Calgary’s Ghost River Theatre and was one of the collaborators on their premiere of Reverie. He also wrote a new adaptation of Alice in Wonderland for the Watermark Theatre in PEI and an adaptation of Aeschylus’ Oresteia called The Curse of the House of Atreus for Calgary Young People’s Theatre.

Professionally, Mike has worked with an array of different companies across the country including: Vertigo Mystery Theatre, Ground Zero Theatre, Hit and Myth Productions, Bard on the Beach, Theatre Calgary, Quest Theatre, The Watermark Theatre and Apparition Theatre. He is also the Artistic Director of Beyond the Brink Productions. For more information about Mike see his website at www.mgriffin.ca

PUBLICATIONS
Griffin, Mike. “Goldoni and Gozzi: Reformers with Separate Agendas.” The Routledge Companion to Commedia dell’Arte, edited by Judith Chaffee & Olly Crick, Routledge, 2015, pp. 329-337.

CREATIVE RESEARCH
Director/Adapter. Antigone by Sophocles. Mainstage Production. Produced by the Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University. St. Catharines, ON, 2018.

Director/Playwright. Pantalone’s Palace. Dramaturgy by Jenna Rodgers. Mainstage production. Produced by the Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University. St. Catharines, ON, 2017.

Playwright/Facilitator. Pantalone’s Palace. Two-day development workshop. Dramaturgy by Jenna Rodgers. Supported by the Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University. St. Catharines, ON, 2017.

Playwright/Facilitator. Pantalone’s Palace . Eight-day development workshop. Supported by the Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University. St. Catharines, ON, 2017.

Director/Adapter. The Fan by Carlo Goldoni. Produced by Calgary Young People’s Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2017.

Director. Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake adapted for the stage by John Constable. Mainstage production. Produced by the Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University. St. Catharines, ON, 2016.

Movement/Fight Coach. Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) Ann-Marie MacDonald. Mainstage production. Produced by the Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University. St. Catharines, ON, 2016.

Movement Coach. The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Bertolt Brecht. Mainstage production. Produced by the Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University. St. Catharines, ON, 2015.

Assistant Director (Director: Dennis Garnhum). King Lear. Produced by Bard on the Beach. Vancouver, BC, 2015.

Actor. Corin in As You Like It directed by Mark Bellamy. Produced by The Shakespeare Company. Calgary, AB, 2015.

Assistant Director (Director: Dennis Garnhum). King Lear. Produced by Theatre Calgary. Calgary, AB, 2015.

Director. Awesome Allie: First Kid Astronaut by Scott Elmegreen. Produced by Storybook Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2015.

Associate Director. The Bone House by Marty Chan. Produced by Apparition Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2014.

Assistant Director/Commedia Specialist (Director:  Dean Paul Gibson). One Man, Two Guvnors. Canadian Premiere. Produced by Theatre Calgary. Calgary, AB, 2015.

Director. Psyche. Created by the ensemble. Mainstage production. Produced by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB, 2014.

Director/Adapter. The Curse of the House of Atreus based on the Oresteia by Aeschylus. Produced by Calgary Young People’s Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2014.

Director/Playwright. The Wooers Woods. Produced by Calgary International Children’s Festival and Calgary Young People’s Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2014.

Playwright. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Produced by Project X Theatre. Kamloops, BC, 2014.

Director. Machinal by Sophie Treadwell. Mainstage production. Produced by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB, 2013.

Fight/Movement Coach. Zastrozzi by George F. Walker. Mainstage production. Produced by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB, 2013.

Movement Coach. (M)otherhood devised by the collective. Mainstage production. Produced by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB, 2013.

Director/Playwright. The Wooers Woods. Produced by Calgary Young People’s Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2013.

Playwright/Facilitator. The Wooers Woods. One-week development Workshop. Supported by Calgary Young People’s Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2013.

Director/Co-Creator/Performer. The Dock Project. Co-creator Greg McLaughlin. Workshop production. Produced by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University, 2013.

Director/Co-Creator/Performer. The Dock Project. Four-week development workshop. Co-creator Greg McLaughlin. Supported by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB, 2013.

Director/Adapter. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Produced by the Watermark Theatre. North Rustico, PEI, 2013.

Directing Collaborator. The Twilight Zone (A Workshop Production) written and devised by the collective. Produced by Ghost River Theatre’s Devised Production Intensive. Calgary, AB, 2013.

Director. The Dyskolos by Menander. Produced by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB, 2013.

Director. The Shape of Things by Neil Labute. Mainstage Production. Produced by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB, 2013.

Voice/Acting Coach. Spring Awakening by Duncan Sheik. Mainstage production. Produced by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB, 2013.

Voice/Movement Coach. All for Love by John Dryden. Mainstage production. Produced by Windsor Theatre, Department of Drama Studies, Mount Allison University. Sackville, NB, 2013.

Director. Evil Dead: The Musical by George Reinblatt. Produced by Hit and Myth Productions. Calgary, AB, 2012.

Assistant Director (Director: Mark Bellamy). Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Stephen Sondheim. Produced by Vertigo Mystery Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2012.

Director/Adapter/Producer. The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni. Produced by Beyond the Brink Productions. Calgary, AB. 2012.

Assistant Director (Director: Nikki Loach). For Art’s Sake by Colin Heath. Produced by Quest Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2012.

Director/Adapter/Facilitator. The Servant of Two Masters. Three-week development workshop. Supported by Beyond the Brink Productions and the University of Calgary. Calgary, AB, 2012.

Assistant Director (Director: Kevin McKendrick). A Behanding in Spokane by Martin McDonagh. Produced by Ground Zero Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2012.

Director/Producer. Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad by Michael Melski. Produced by Beyond the Brink Productions. Calgary, AB, 2011.

Directing Intern. Reverie devised by the collective, scripted by David van Belle. Produced by Ghost River Theatre. Calgary, AB, 2011.

Director. The Liar by Carlo Goldoni. Thesis production and part of the Mainstage season. Produced by the Department of Drama, University of Calgary. Calgary, AB, 2010.

Director. Fool for Love by Sam Shepard. Taking Flight Festival. Produced by the Department of Drama, University of Calgary. Calgary, AB, 2010.

Assistant Director (Director: Aaron Caleb). The Good Woman of Setzuan. Mainstage production. Produced by The Theatre Department of Trinity Western University. Langley, BC, 2009.

2012 – Best Production of a Musical (Sweeney Todd – Vertigo Mystery Theatre), Critter Awards
2012 – Outstanding Production of a Musical (Sweeney Todd – Vertigo Mystery Theatre), Betty Mitchell Award
2012 – FFWD Weekly Reader’s Choice (Sweeney Todd – Vertigo Mystery Theatre), Betty Mitchell Award
2011 – Outstanding Production Of a Musical (Nomination) (Reverie – Ghost River Theatre), Vertigo Mystery Theatre, Betty Mitchell Award
2011 – Teaching Excellence Award (Nomination), University of Calgary
2010 – Joseph-Armand Bombardier Scholarship, Social Sciences and HumanitiesResearch Council of Canada

Workshops with Niagara based high-schools in physical theatre, mask, slapstick and Commedia dell’Arte.

  • The School for Theatre Creators, Summer Intensive: Pedagogy of the Mask
  • Association of Movement Theatre Educators
  • Playwrights Guild of Canada
  • Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre
  • Canadian Theatre Educator’s Conference