Alan Brodie’s long and varied career in the theatre began in 1989, after he completed undergraduate theatre studies at the University of British Columbia in design and technical theatre. Over the span of his career he has been primarily a lighting designer for theatre, opera and dance. Set design became a useful, intriguing and fulfilling adjunct to his work as a lighting designer, and his vocation has seen his work on stages across Canada, in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. He has been recognized with awards for lighting design across Canada (Jessie, Dora, Sterling and Betty Mitchell Awards), as well as a Bay Area Critics Circle Award, San Francisco. In 2012 he was shortlisted for the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, Canada’s most prestigious theatre award.
Alan has been instrumental in a number of significant Canadian theatre productions, most notably The Overcoat, in all of its iterations, including the Vancouver Playhouse world premiere in 1997, tours across Canada, international festivals, the 2001 CBC film for their “Opening Night” series, and most recently on the premiere of the opera The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring. His most frequent collaborator over the years has been director/playwright Morris Panych, for whom Alan has designed over 25 productions. Other important collaborators include Ken Macdonald, Christopher Newton, Neil Munro, Michael Shamata, Jackie Maxwell, Crystal Pite, Kim Collier, Peter Jorgensen, Richard Wolfe, Robert McQueen, Glynis Leyshon, Donna Spencer, Roy Surette and Kim Selody. He is grateful to have worked on the stage of the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company for many years prior to its closure in 2012, and proud to have called Vancouver his home for the entire duration of his career. Alan has designed for almost all of Canada’s English language regional theatres in addition to many of Vancouver’s independent theatre companies. He spent more than 15 seasons designing at the Shaw Festival and he has worked at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, as well as international ballet companies that include Scottish Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Zürich Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater.
As an educator, Alan has taught at Studio 58 – Langara College, UBC, the Banff Centre for the Arts and the National Theatre School. He is frequently asked to present workshops on lighting for the stage and he has been honored to advise and mentor many young designers through the years.
In 2016 Alan completed a Masters degree in stage directing at the University of Victoria, and his life as a theatre maker has been transformed with its expansion into this new role. As a stage director he has created work for Studio 58, Ensemble Theatre Company, Peninsula Productions and Sticks & Stones Theatre. Most recently he directed a short film entitled The Perfect Spot.
Alan is a member of IATSE local ADC659 (previously the Associated Designers of Canada). He is represented by Catalyst TCM.