Rod has been an important part of the Ontario theatre scene for the last thirty-five years. He has directed/produced 150 stage productions to date, both nationally and internationally, ranging from the classics to the development of new Canadian work. He is recognized nationally for his directorial adaptations of Shakespeare and was the winner of TVO’s 2009 Big Ideas/Best Lecturer Competition for his lecture “Adapting Shakespeare within a Modern Canadian Context.” He was a Guest Speaker at the ProfTalk Lecture Series at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre in 2014, lecturing on the state of theatre in the twenty-first century. Ten lecturers from across North America were invited to this prestigious learning series. Rod was the Founding Artistic Director of the Acting for Stage and Screen Program at Canadore College in North Bay (2005-2023). He developed the curriculum for the program in 2004 seeing a need for professional acting training in Northern Ontario. He also served as Artistic Director for Rep 21/Theatre Canadore. He was a part-time English Professor for Nipissing University from 1999 to 2022. Some directing highlights include King Lear (Watershed Shakespeare Festival – North Bay/Theatre Passe Muraille, Toronto, starring David Fox), the Ontario premiere of Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Berkeley Street Theatre (Toronto), and the Canadian premiere of Talking to Terrorists. Rod was the founding Artistic Director of the Nipissing Stage Company from 1999 to 2005 where he directed 25 mainstage productions including the Ontario premiere of McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan and the Northern Ontario premieres of Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Stones in his Pockets as well as serving as co-author and director on two Northern Ontario musicals, Train Town and Wanted (with David Fox). Additional directing highlights include the Northern Ontario premieres of George F. Walker’s Orphans for the Czar, High Life, Passion Play, The Laramie Project, Angels in America, Our Country’s Good, and The Othello Project (originally mounted at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto and Florida Shakespeare Festival, Miami – DORA Nomination: Outstanding Direction). Film/television acting credits include SkyMed, Cardinal, Hard Rock Medical (three seasons), Algonquin, Joseph and Mary, A Dark Truth, and The Savage Tales of Summer Vale (8 episodes). Stage acting highlights include The Crucible, Glengarry Glen Ross, Waiting for Godot, Romeo and Juliet, It’s a Wonderful Life (Stage Radio Play), Dracula, Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers, The Foreigner, and his one-man show Witless. Rod has previously been an adjudicator for the Theatre Ontario Festival, EODL (twice), ACT-CO (both drama and comedy divisions), QUONTA (thrice), QUONTA One Act Festival (twice), and the WODL One Act Festival. During the early years of his career, Rod served as an Assistant Director for the Stratford Festival (two seasons) and was the first recipient of the Festival’s Jean Gascon Director’s Award in addition to 3 Tyrone Guthrie Awards. He was inducted into the Brockville and Area Music and Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 2018 and the North Bay Entertainers Hall of Recognition in 2015 and has been a finalist for the K.K. Hunter Award for Theatre in Ontario, the John Hirsch Director’s Award, and the Pauline McGibbon Award. Rod is also the award-winning author of four works of literary fiction: RUFF (published September 2024), his interconnected short story collection GRIN REAPING (2022), KINMOUNT (2020), and A Matter of Will (2017) -- all with Latitude 46 Publishing. He has been twice longlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medallion for Humour. His short stories and creative non-fiction have appeared in a variety of literary magazines including Broadview, Cloud Lake Literary, Blank Spaces, Exile, and the anthology 150 years Up North and More. He was a finalist for the 2021 Carter V. Cooper Short Fiction Prize. www.rodcarley.ca Dream it