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.Craig Walker, "Richard Rose". The Canadian Encyclopedia, January 20, 2014.
Background He was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, and raised in Sudbury, Ontario.Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof, "Rose, Richard". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, August 23, 2024. He studied theatre at York University.Robert Crew, "Rose puts fresh bloom on theatre". Toronto Star, December 31, 1998.
Career He was the founding artistic director of Necessary Angel in 1978. The company's first production, Aeschylus's Oresteia, was not well-regarded by critics but telegraphed the company's high ambitions.
Necessary Angel rose to critical and popular favour with the breakout success of John Krizanc's play Tamara in 1981,Salem Alaton, "Tamara plays to a full house in all 20 rooms". The Globe and Mail, June 20, 1981. which won numerous Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 1982 including Best Director for Rose.Carole Corbeil, "An outstanding night for Tamara". The Globe and Mail, November 16, 1982. Following the success of Tamara, he collaborated with Thom Sokoloski, the artistic director of Theatre Autumn Leaf, to create Autumn Angel Repertory,Carole Corbeil, "A new theatrical pairing". The Globe and Mail, December 7, 1982. who won the Dora for Outstanding New Play in 1984 for Mein.Stephen Godfrey, "Jungle of Cities wins four Doras". The Globe and Mail, October 23, 1984.
In 1989 he attracted acclaim for his theatrical adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel Coming Through Slaughter, cowritten with Ondaatje and D.D. Kugler. In 1992, Rose and Kugler debuted another stage adaptation, of Timothy Findley's novel Not Wanted on the Voyage."Findley novel headed for stage". Toronto Star, September 18, 1990.
He also directed the short film Giant Steps, which screened at the 1992 Toronto International Film Festival,H. J Kirchhoff, "Festival ushers in 69 Canadian films". The Globe and Mail, July 30, 1992. and served for three years as director of the youth company at the Stratford Festival.
In 2002 he was appointed artistic director of Tarragon."Tarragon Theatre names new artistic director". The Globe and Mail, June 12, 2002. 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, but Rose remained with the company until his retirement in 2020.J. Kelly Nestruck, "Richard Rose set to retire from Tarragon Theatre". The Globe and Mail, June 27, 2020.
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 1983 Best Original Play, General Theatre Censored Ray Conlogue, "Thomson, Phipps take Doras for outstanding acting". The Globe and Mail, October 11, 1983. 1984 Meinwith Stewart Arnott, Ines Ruchli, Mark Christmann, Dorian Clark, Denis Forest, Maggie Huculak, Tanja Jacobs, Susan McKenzie 1989 Outstanding Direction of a Play, General Theatre The Possibilities Isabel Vincent, "And the Dora nominees are . . .". The Globe and Mail, May 13, 1989. 1990 Best Original Play, General Theatre Coming Through Slaughterwith Michael Ondaatje, D.D. Kugler Ray Conlogue, "Dora nominations harvested from sparse crop of new plays". The Globe and Mail, May 15, 1990. Outstanding Direction of a Play, General Theatre The Europeans Ray Conlogue, "Dora nominations harvested from sparse crop of new plays". The Globe and Mail, May 15, 1990. 1993 Outstanding Direction of a Play, Midsize Theatre Glenn Liam Lacey, "Bob's Kingdom and Ratbag lead Dora nominees". The Globe and Mail, May 11, 1993. 1996 Seven Lears "Dora Mavor Moore Awards announced". Montreal Gazette, June 27, 1996. 1998 Outstanding Direction of a Play, General Theatre Inexpressible Island "Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star, May 27, 1998. 2004 Remnants Kamal Al-Solaylee, "The Producers lost at box office but wins big at Dora awards". The Globe and Mail, June 29, 2004. Simpl Robert Cushman, "The Doras: and the winner is ...: Odd nominees make predictions difficult". National Post, June 26, 2004. 2006 Léo Robert Cushman, "Some nods are inexplicable: A desperate season, a desperate slate of Dora nominees". National Post, June 24, 2006. 2007 Scorched Guy Dixon, "Scorched wins best play at Dora Awards". The Globe and Mail, June 25, 2007. 2010 Courageous Robert Cushman, "Navigating the nominations; Our critic predicts Dora winners and laments overlooked performances". National Post, June 26, 2010. 2014 A God in Need of Help Robert Cushman, "Best in shows; The Doras have a weak field to choose from this year, but they've chosen well". National Post, June 21, 2014. 2015 An Enemy of the People J. Kelly Nestruck, "Soulpepper leads in Dora Award nods". The Globe and Mail, June 2, 2015. 2018 Hamlet J. Kelly Nestruck, "Soulpepper's 13 nominations lead general theatre division of Toronto's Dora Awards". The Globe and Mail, May 31, 2018.
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