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— About
Brooke Banning has a thing for twists, turns and revelations...
- Mike Anderson, Mooney on Theatre
Brooke Banning is a Toronto-based screenwriter, playwright, producer and director. She was a 2018 resident in the Norman Jewison Film Program at the Canadian Film Centre. Brooke’s short film Christina (2023) screened across Canada (Regina International Film Festival, Hamilton Film Festival, Toronto Short Film Festival, Cyrus International Film Festival), the United States (Slamdance Film Festival, Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival) and in Europe (Extraordinary Film Festival), receiving the award for best short at the Cyrus International Film Festival and best performance at the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival for Kimberly Weir’s performance in the titular roll.
Brooke’s work for theatre has received critical acclaim on the Toronto indie scene with Mike Anderson (Mooney on Theatre) writing of her 2014 one-act Swell Broad "This script feels eerily post-millennium for something set in the 30s–and perhaps that’s the point. The 30s, like the 00s and 10s, was an era when the old scripts around adulthood in general and gender in particular suddenly stopped working”. As a theatre director, Brooke’s work employs playful minimalist stagecraft to inspire audience’s to imagine a world beyond what they see on stage. (Of Wolf Sounds, 2015) “Sensitively and symbolically staged in a small space, the number of innovative tricks (including one of the best onstage disappearances without traps below deck I have witnessed) employed to challenge the performers and the audience is astounding for a one hour show.” - Jason Booker (The Charlebois Post).
Brooke is engaged with and prioritizes abilities in the arts. She has collaborated with organizations such as DramaWay, Kerry’s Place Autism Services and has been asked as a guest speaker at Cahoots Lift Off! Festival and the 2014 Accessing the Arts Symposium at the Abilities Centre. Brooke also founded ActingWorks (along with Danielle Strnad), a conservatory-style acting program for adults with developmental disabilities.
For film: Christina (Dir. Gerald Patrick Fantone, 2023), Spectrum (Dir. Gerald Patrick Fantone, 2019), Child (Dir. Hannah Cheesman, 2018), The Dress (Dir. Reg Matson, 2017) and The Return (Dir. Reg Matson, 2016)
For theatre: Wolf Sounds (Dir. Brooke Banning; The Box Toronto, 2015), Swell Broad (Dir. Laura Anne Harris; Storefront Theatre/ Lab Cab Festival, 2014), Genitalia (Dir. Sarah Kitz; New Art Night, 2013), Opposable Thumb (Dir. Polly Phokeev; Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 2010), Joyful Noise (Dir. Brooke Banning; Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 2009), So It Goes (Dir. Amanda Fotes; Luminato, 2009), We Are The Few (Paprika Festival, 2008), and collectively created The Cinderella Project (Dir. Yevgeniya Falkovich; TPL’s Culture Days/ Streetsville Arts Festival, 2008)
Currently in development: Child (feature film shortlisted for TIFF-Micki Moore Residency 2021)
General Inquiries
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