Keynote Speaker

Christopher Gaze

At the 2009 PD Day morning plenary, Christopher spoke to the BCIT community on how teamwork has played a central role throughout his career, particularly in the evolution and success of Vancouver's Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival.

Watch Christopher's keynote on BCIT iTunes U.

Biography in Brief

Christopher Gaze is best known as Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival which he founded in 1990. Now preparing for its 20th season in 2009, the Festival has seen its attendance grow from 6,000 in the first season to more than 80,400 in 2006, cementing the foundations of a uniquely exceptional Shakespeare Festival for Western Canada. He has received many honours for his achievements including: induction into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame, Canada's Meritorious Service Medal, an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University, the British Columbia Community Achievement Award and the 2007 Medallion from the Children's Theatre Foundation of America.

During his 37-year professional acting career, Christopher has performed in virtually every major centre across Canada, as well as in England and the USA. He was born and educated in England and trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. After playing in repertory theatre for two years, he came to Canada in 1975 where he spent three seasons at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake. He moved to Vancouver in 1983 and has become ubiquitous in stage, television and film circles. In recent years he received a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Playhouse Theatre production of Equus, he appeared in the Arts Club production of The School for Scandal and he played the roll of the Pedant in Bard's 2007 staging of The Taming of the Shrew.