Ken Schwartz co-founded Two Planks and a Passion Theatre in 1992 after graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada in both Technical-Production and Directing and doing a year of apprenticeships with theatres in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. He has directed over forty productions for Two Planks and a Passion including The Odyssey, Our Town, Rockbound, As You Like It, Dustbowl Joan, and The Tempest. Recently he directed the critically-acclaimed Willpower Theatre production of Macbeth in Halifax. He participated in the Stratford Festival’s Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Text in 2010 and 2013 where he won the Elliot Hayes Award (Guthries) in 2013. He has also developed a program of theatrical outreach which he has used to work with marginalised communities and to assist with social problems in rural communities and schools. Ken teaches many of the theatre and writing programs at Ross Creek, including Shakespeare workshops and the writing academy.
Awards: three Merritt awards for Outstanding Director (09,10,16) and four for Outstanding Production (08,09,10,16). The Established Artist Recognition Award from the Province of Nova Scotia (08), and the Queen’s Golden (02) and Diamond (12) Jubilee Medals. Also nominated for Merritt awards for Outstanding Director (08, 13, 14 (twice), 15,) and Playwright (05,14,15,16). Ken was a finalist for the Nova Scotia Masterworks Award (as director) in 2010 for Rockbound.
