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As a co-founder and then Artistic and Managing Director of Headlines Theatre, David Diamond has directed over 380 community specific theatre projects on issues such as racism, gender roles, violence, addiction, self-esteem, First Nations' Residential Schools, globalization, language reclamation and many, many others. Diamond has directed workshops throughout BC, Canada and the USA, as well as in Namibia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Italy, Singapore, Australia and Finland. He has also been involved in the writing and/or directing of all of Headlines' main stage plays, including NO' XYA' (Our Footprints), Out of the Silence, Mamu, Squeegee, Corporate U, Here and Now, Meth and the Legislative Theatre project, Practicing Democracy. Diamond has pioneered the development of live, interactive Forum Television and web casting. Diamond is a 1975 graduate of the University of Alberta with a BFA in acting. He worked as a professional actor in theatre, television and film throughout Western Canada until 1981 when he co-founded Headlines Theatre.
He digested his 36 years as a theatrical activist for Theatre for Living: The Art and Science of Community-Based Dialogue (Trafford 2007). It received the Distinguished Book Award in 2008 from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE), the first self-published book to receive the honour. [See press release below]
DATE OF BIRTH: July 9, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH: WInnipeg, Manitoba
ARRIVAL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: 1976
EMPLOYMENT OTHER THAN WRITING: Artistic and Managing Director of Headlines Theatre
AWARDS: Honorary Doctorate on Letters from the University College of the Fraser Valley
BOOKS: Theatre for Living (Trafford, 2007) 978-1-4251-2458-8
[BCBW 2008] "Theatre"
He digested his 36 years as a theatrical activist for Theatre for Living: The Art and Science of Community-Based Dialogue (Trafford 2007). It received the Distinguished Book Award in 2008 from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE), the first self-published book to receive the honour. [See press release below]
DATE OF BIRTH: July 9, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH: WInnipeg, Manitoba
ARRIVAL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: 1976
EMPLOYMENT OTHER THAN WRITING: Artistic and Managing Director of Headlines Theatre
AWARDS: Honorary Doctorate on Letters from the University College of the Fraser Valley
BOOKS: Theatre for Living (Trafford, 2007) 978-1-4251-2458-8
[BCBW 2008] "Theatre"
Articles: 1 Article for this author
Distinguished Book Award
Press Release (2008)
Vancouver, July 28, 2008-The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) announced it's 2008 Distinguished Book Award to author David Diamond for his book Theatre For Living: the art and science of community-based dialogue this week. This distinction is presented annually to publications that enhance scholarship or resources in the field of Theatre and Education. The award ceremony was held on Saturday, July 26 during the annual AATE Convention in Atlanta, Georgia.
Launched in 1989, the AATE Distinguished Book Award selection process is member driven and gives recipients national recognition for outstanding work. The criterion for selecting the recipient is based on a publication's demonstration of logic and consistency of organization, thoroughness of writing style, philosophy and approach. The AATE remarked that, "Recipients represent the best of our field and inspire others with the outstanding work, commitment, and dedication that make us proud to count them among our colleagues and allies.";
Award winning author David Diamond is the Artistic Director and Cofounder of Headlines Theatre, based in Vancouver, Canada. In his book Theatre For Living, Diamond documents his unique approach to theatre and how it can be utilized to effect change on a grassroots level. Emerging from Augusto Boal's "Theatre of the Oppressed"; Diamond's technique embraces concepts of systems theory, and approaches communities as living organisms that experience dysfunction as seen through symptoms such as violence, racism, addiction and over-consumption. Diamond synthesizes the perspective that living communities are capable of incredible change with the primal language of theatre to investigate difficult issues, create dialogue, and rehearse individual and community transformation.
Diamond says, "I am very honoured to receive this award from the AATE, especially knowing that it is the first time a self-published book has been selected by the organization. Theatre for Living spans disciplines and insists that we investigate what links us together. It suggests that the way forward is to burst out of our 'silos' and recognize the links between art and health, between authentic, broad-based community dialogue and effective activism. If we are to deal with the pressing issues of global warming, global violence, hunger, poverty, we must find a way, whether on the so-called left or the so-called right to stop perpetuating the concept of 'the other.' There is no 'them.' There is only 'us.' ";
