Biography: Tanya Smith
Born and raised in small town Strathroy, Ontario, Tanya grew to love rural theatre and soon packed her bags to head to the big city Toronto where she developed a love for all film and theatre. Most recently she starred in the controversial and acclaimed production of A Thought in Three Parts directed by Brendan Healey which recieved Best Ensemble, Best Production and Best Direction from the Now Magazine for 2007’s SummerWorks Festival, as well as small roles on TV shows such as Ghostly Encounters, A Smart Women’s Survival Guide and Forensic Factor.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from York University and a BA Honours in Theatre Studies from The University of Toronto and Sheridan College. She has spent time in Seville, Spain as an invited International participant practicing with theorist Eugenio Barba (Odin Theatre) and in London, England with the Wrestling School (dedicated to the work of Howard Barker). She is also the founder and director of her own training camp for theatre artists, The Actor’s/Playwright’s Retreat, hosting instructors such as Jason Sherman, David Ferry, Paul Lampert and David Smukler.
She is a past Artistic Associate at Crow’s Theatre (www.crowstheatre.com) and has worked as a sessional instructor in Creative Ensemble (collective theatre creation) and as a Teacher’s Assistant (Theatre Survey 1st and 3rd year) at York University. She is the Artistic Director of The Carey St. Performance Experiment (a small company dedicated to the development of works that provide opportunities to marginalized artists and demographics that have been underrepresented in the theatre community) Their inaugural show Thank You (written by Tanya) received NNNN from The Now Magazine in the Toronto Fringe festival.
Tanya was an assistant director with Siminovitch award winner Jill Keiley (Director’s Cut), Jim Millan (In the Garden, Two Suns - Crow’s Theatre) and Patricia Hamilton (The Women). She directed K.D and the Bomb in the Toronto fringe festival and over 20 productions for Camp White Pine. She has taught acting, voice and movement at several children’s institutions including Shakespeare-In-Action and John Robert Powers.
Film directing and writing credits include Anagnorisis, which took first place at The Digital Gun Awards short filmmaking competition and she has worked as a Production Manager and Coordinator on several short films and several scenes for the Canadian Film Centre. Recent theatre producing credits include Serviced (Fringe) directed by Judith Thompson, This is None of I (SummerWorks), Ludlow Fair (SummerWorks). In addition, she was honoured with an award of Distinction for her Martial Arts fight as part of her Intermediate level certification in Stage Combat through Fight Director’s Canada. (No need to be afraid of her. She’s very sweet.)