Dr Ian Gaskell

Position: Senior Lecturer
Email: i.gaskell@cqu.edu.au
Phone: 07 4940 7805
Qualifications: PhD Toronto, MA Toronto, BA (Hons) Waterloo

A theatre director and designer, Ian Gaskell was trained in Canada where he worked as both an academic and professional theatre artist. He obtained his doctorate from the Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama at the University of Toronto, with a dissertation on Elizabethan Drama. His last position in Canada was with Bishop's University in Quebec where he was Professor in the Department of Drama and the Administrative Director of a three-theatre performing arts centre. He has also worked throughout Canada in the professional theatre specializing in stage management, technical direction, design and theatre management. Included in his professional experience are seven years with the Stratford Shakespearean Festival, three years with the Charlottetown Festival and several seasons with regional theatres in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.

Prior to joining CQUniversity, Ian was the Foundation Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, a position he held for twelve years. In his years at USP he directed and designed major productions of plays by Edward Bond, Ntozake Shange, Bertolt Brecht, William Shakespeare and local playwright Larry Thomas. He has written articles and reviews on Elizabethan drama, Canadian theatre and plays from the South Pacific. His current research interests include indigenous performance in the Pacific and the field of applied theatre. For several years he worked with the Vanuatu-based Wan Smolbag Theatre Company assessing the educational effectiveness of community theatre.