BRENDA BAZINET

Brenda is an actor, theatre director, teacher and private acting coach.  She has performed on stages across Canada receiving 4 Dora nominations.  Her recent credits include Linda in Death of a Salesman at Neptune Theatre; Stevie in Edward Albee’s The Goat, Hesther in Equus at the Citadel; Lily in End of Civilization at Factory Theatre; Woman in The Lover for Lemaz Productions; Mary in Leaving Home for the Blyth Festival; Mrs. Sorby in The Wild Duck for Soulpepper; Esther in The Price for Sudbury Theatre Centre.  Since her days as a young actor, Brenda has been a member of several artist-run theatre companies.  In 1985 she and two friends created 5 & Dime Productions which produced Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, the Canadian premiere of Bat Masterson’s Last Job and The Secret Rapture by David Hare.  In 1992 she was general manager for Mimesis Theatre’s production of A Modo Suo by Tony Nardi.  In 1999 Brenda became a member of the Actors Repertory Company (ARC) and co-starred in Creditors with Alan Jordan and directed by John Neville and So Many Words directed by Paul Lampert.  It was with ARC that she began to test the waters of directing.  She started by staging several readings of some of the lesser produced classics, Mary Stuart, Ivanov, Under Milk Wood and John Murrell’s Memoirs.  In 2002 she directed her first full-scale production of Edward Bond’s The Sea, which received 3 Dora nominations, winning in the category of Best Actress in a Leading Role.    Brenda’s more recent directing credits include: Blown Sideways Through Life for the 2006 Toronto Fringe Festival (Best of the Fringe); Of the Fields, Lately for Sudbury Theatre Centre; and The Chekhov Project for George Brown Theatre School.  She has acted in over 80 film and television projects including the critically acclaimed TV movie Sins of the Father, Puppets Who Kill, Rabbittown, Haven, This is Wonderland, Redemption, The Secret Path and A Grief Shared for TVO (Gemini Award).  Brenda is a popular acting instructor in Toronto and across Canada.  She has taught for George Brown Theatre School, Humber College (Acting for Television and Film Program), Ryerson University (Act II), Equity Showcase,  St, Lawrence College (Brockville), the Actors Workshop, Actraworks, Armstrong Acting Studio and has conducted Acting for the Camera classes in many of Canada’s major centres.  In 2006 Brenda served as the Acting Mentor for the highly praised program, Women in the Directors Chair in Banff.