Daniel MacIvor (born July 23, 1962) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
actor,
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
,
theatre director
A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
, and
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...
. He is probably best known for his acting roles in
independent films
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...
and the
sitcom
A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...
''
Twitch City''.
Personal
MacIvor was born in
Sydney,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native En ...
and educated at
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offer ...
in
Halifax, and then at
George Brown College
George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
.
MacIvor is openly gay.
He married Paul Goulet in 2006;
[ they have since divorced.] He has an Italian Greyhound
The Italian Greyhound ( it, Piccolo levriero Italiano, italic=no) is an Italian breed of small sighthound. It may also be called the Italian Sighthound.
History
Small dogs of sighthound type have long been popular with nobility and royalty. ...
, called 'Buddy'.
Career
In addition to his film and theatrical credits, MacIvor wrote the libretto to the opera "Hadrian," for which Rufus Wainwright wrote the music.
Theatre
MacIvor founded the theatre company da da kamera with Michele Jelley in 1986 to independently produce his own work. He was in residence at Buddies in Bad Times
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company. Based in Toronto, Ontario and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, ''Buddies in Bad Times'' is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical ...
Theatre - for whom he has written, directed, and acted. His plays include ''Never Swim Alone'', ''This is a Play'', ''Monster'', '' Marion Bridge'', ''You are Here'', ''Cul-de-sac'', and ''A Beautiful View''. Five of MacIvor's plays were published as ''I Still Love You'' in 2006, in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of da da kamera, (''Never Swim Alone'', ''The Soldier Dreams'', ''You are Here'', ''In on It'', and ''A Beautiful View''), and won MacIvor a coveted Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields.
The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
for Drama.
Solo theatre work
MacIvor is particularly well known for a series of solo shows created in collaboration with director Daniel Brooks. These include ''House'', ''Here Lies Henry'', ''Monster'' and ''Cul-de-sac''.["Two Daniels’ latest collaboration conjures the dead"]
''Toronto Star'', November 28, 2016. Karen Fricker. These incorporate a minimalist and meta-theatrical style. In ''House'' and ''Here Lies Henry'', MacIvor portrays one character who speaks directly to the audience, acknowledging their presence. While the direct address of the audience continues in ''Monster
A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...
'' and ''Cul-de-sac'', MacIvor portrays several characters throughout the course of the piece and this direct address is occasionally broken up by dialogue between these characters.
In 1992, ''2-2 Tango'' was included in ''Making Out'', the first anthology of Canadian plays by gay writers, alongside works by Ken Garnhum, Sky Gilbert, , Harry Rintoul
Harry Rintoul (December 9, 1956 - January 14, 2002) was a Canadian playwright and theatre director. He was best known for his 1990 play ''Brave Hearts'', which was noted as one of the first significant gay-themed plays in Canadian theatre history ...
and Colin Thomas.
The first three of these pieces were staged at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in the 2006/2007 season as part of a tribute and retrospective of da da kamera's work.
MacIvor and Brooks later collaborated with Iris Turcott to create the play ''Who Killed Spalding Gray?'', in which MacIvor performs the part of a fictional character partly based on the style of deceased American actor Spalding Gray
Spalding Gray (June 5, 1941 – January 11, 2004) was an American actor, novelist, playwright, screenwriter and performance artist. He is best known for the autobiographical monologues that he wrote and performed for the theater in the 1980s an ...
. The show premiered at the Halifax's Magnetic North Theatre Festival
The Magnetic North Theatre Festival is an annual festival celebrating theatre and related performing arts in Canada operated by the Canadian Theatre Festival Society in partnership with the National Arts Centre. The festival is held Ottawa every ...
, and was later performed in Toronto at the Luminata Festival and at the High Performance Rodeo in Calgary
Film
In his early film work, MacIvor frequently collaborated with director Laurie Lynd
Laurie Lynd (born May 19, 1959, in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian film and television director and screenwriter, best known as the director of the feature film ''Breakfast with Scot''.
In his early career, Lynd made the short films ''Together and ...
, including on the short films ''RSVP
RSVP is an initialism derived from the French phrase ''Répondez s'il vous plaît'', literally meaning "Respond, if you please", or just "Please respond", to require confirmation of an invitation. The initialism "RSVP" is no longer used much in ...
'' in 1991, '' The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore'' in 1992, and the feature film ''House
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air ...
'' (1995).
In the early 2000s MacIvor wrote, co-wrote and directed several independent film
An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
s, which were usually made in his home province of Nova Scotia. They include ''Past Perfect,'' '' Marion Bridge'', '' Whole New Thing'' and ''Wilby Wonderful
''Wilby Wonderful'' is a 2004 comedy-drama film directed by Daniel MacIvor, and starring James Allodi, Maury Chaykin, Paul Gross, Rebecca Jenkins, Sandra Oh, Elliot Page, Callum Keith Rennie, and Daniel MacIvor. ''Wilby Wonderful'' tells the story ...
''.
As an actor he appeared in Jeremy Podeswa's '' The Five Senses,'' had a recurring role in the television series ''Republic of Doyle
''Republic of Doyle'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series set in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, which aired on CBC Television from January 6, 2010, to December 10, 2014.
The show stars Allan Hawco as private investigator and ...
'' and played Nathan in the iconic Canadian television series '' Twitch City.'' In recent years MacIvor has been working with director Bruce McDonald as screenwriter of the films '' Trigger'' and '' Weirdos'' (for which MacIvor won a Canadian Screen Award
The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) ...
in 2017 for best original screenplay).
Awards and honors
In addition to winning the Governor General's Award for Drama in 2006, MacIvor has won other notable awards during his career. Mr. MacIvor also has two Chalmers New Play Awards, once in 1997 and 1992.
Plays
In 1998, MacIvor won the award for overall excellence at the New York International Fringe Festival for his play ''Never Swim Alone''.
In 2002, his play ''In On It'' earned him a GLAAD Award and a Village Voice Obie Award.
In 2008, he was awarded the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre.
Selected theatre work
* ''See Bob Run'' (1989), da da kamera, directed by Ken McDougall
Ken McDougall (1953–1994) was a Canadian actor and theatre director."Poignant film about dying dancer sombre reminder for Ottawa woman". ''Ottawa Citizen'', September 21, 1995. Predominantly a stage actor in Toronto, Ontario, he is best known to ...
* ''Yes I Am and'' Who Are You? (1989), Buddies in Bad Times, directed by Edward Roy
* ''Wild Abandon'' (1990), Theatre Passe Muraille, directed by Vinetta Strombergs
* ''Somewhere I Have Never Travelled'' (1990), ''Tarragon Theatre
The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country. '', directed by Andy McKim
* ''Never Swim Alone'' (1991), da da kamera, directed by Ken McDougall
* ''2-2 Tango'' (1991), Buddies in Bad Times, directed by Ken McDougall
* ''Jump'' (1992), Theatre Passe Muraille, directed by Daniel Brooks
* ''House'' (1992), da da kamera and the Factory Theatre
* ''This is a Play'' (1992), da da kamera, directed by Ken MacDougall
* ''The Lorca Play'' (1992), da da kamera, co-directed by MacIvor and Daniel Brooks
* ''Sessions'' (1995), Tarragon Theatre, with Daniel Brooks and Clare Coulter
* ''Here Lies Henry'' (1995), Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
* ''The Soldier Dreams'' (1997), da da kamera at Canadian Stage Company
* ''Marion Bridge'' (1998), Mulgrave Road Theatre and da da kamera
* ''Monster'' (1998), da da kamera at Canadian Stage Company, directed by Daniel Brooks
* ''In On It'' (2000), Edinburgh Festival, directed by MacIvor
* ''You Are Here'' (2001), da da kamera in association with Theatre Passe Muraille
* ''Cul-de-Sac'' (2003), da da Kamera, directed by Daniel Brooks
* ''A Beautiful View'' (2006), da da kamera, directed by Daniel MacIvor
* ''How It Works'' (2007), ''Tarragon Theatre
The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country. '', directed by Daniel MacIvor
* ''His Greatness'' (2007), Vancouver Arts Club, directed by Linda Moore
* ''Confession'' (2008), Mulgrave Road Theatre, directed by Ann-Marie Kerr
* ''Communion'' (2010), Tarragon Theatre, directed by Daniel MacIvor
* ''This Is What Happens Next'' (2010), Canstage, directed by Daniel Brooks
* ''Bingo!'' (2011), Mulgrave Road Theatre
* ''Was Spring'' (2012), Tarragon Theatre, directed by Daniel MacIvor
* ''The Best Brothers'' (2012), ''Stratford Shakespeare Festival
The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...
'', directed by Dean Gabourie
* ''Arigato, Tokyo'' (2013), Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, directed by Brendan Healy
* ''Small Things'' (2014), Prairie Theatre Exchange, directed by Robert Metcalfe
* ''Who Killed Spalding Gray?'' (2014), Magnetic North Theatre Festival
* "I, Animal" (2015), KAZAN CO-OP Theatre, directed by Richie Wilcox
* ''Cake & Dirt'' (2015), Tarragon Theatre, directed by Amiel Gladstone
* ''Let's Run Away'' (2019), Canadian Stage, directed by Daniel Brooks
* ''New Magic Valley Fun Town'' (2019), Tarragon Theatre, directed by Richard Rose
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macivor, Daniel
1962 births
Living people
Canadian male stage actors
Canadian male film actors
20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
Film directors from Nova Scotia
Canadian people of Scottish descent
Canadian gay writers
Canadian gay actors
LGBT film directors
People from Sydney, Nova Scotia
Male actors from Nova Scotia
Writers from Nova Scotia
Dora Mavor Moore Award winners
George Brown College alumni
LGBT dramatists and playwrights
Governor General's Award-winning dramatists
Canadian male dramatists and playwrights
Canadian screenwriters
LGBT screenwriters
Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
20th-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian male writers
Canadian Film Centre alumni
Opera librettists
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
21st-century LGBT people