Peter Hinton-Davis


Peter Hinton-Davis is a Canadian stage director, opera director, dramaturg, and playwright. He has worked with theatre companies across Canada and has held several artistic leadership roles throughout his career.

Early life and education

Hinton was raised in Kingston, Ontario, in an academically oriented family. According to The Globe and Mail, being gay created tensions within his household, an experience that later informed the themes he explored and the research-driven approach he employs as a director.

Career

Early career

Hinton began his career as an actor before moving into directing. His early directing work included productions at independent and new-play development companies. In 1986, he directed Franz Xaver Kroetz’s Michi's Blood for Crows Theatre Company, presented at the Brecht Colloquium in Toronto. He later directed a 1993 production of The Witch of Edmonton for Equity Showcase Theatre, which featured a young Sandra Oh as Cuddy Banks.
Other early works include:
He held roles in new play development and dramaturgy at Theatre Passe Muraille, the Canadian Stage Company, the Playwrights Theatre Centre, and Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal. He also worked as an artistic associate at the Stratford Festival.

National Arts Centre

From 2005 to 2012, Hinton served as Artistic Director of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre. During his tenure he led the resident acting company and programmed seasons featuring Indigenous and Canadian works.
He also produced an all-Indigenous production of King Lear and the stage adaptation of Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Shaw Festival

Hinton has directed multiple productions at the Shaw Festival, including:
He has directed premieres and productions for companies across Canada and internationally, working in both classical and contemporary theatre, including new work by Trina Davies, Makram Ayache, and Gloria Montero’s Frida K. which toured to Mexico City and Madrid after its Canadian premiere.

Opera

Hinton has also directed a range of operas, including new Canadian works and reinterpretations of established repertoire, including:
Hinton is the author of several works for the stage, including a trilogy of plays collectively known as The Swanne produced by the Stratford Festival of Canada from 2002–2004. The company also produced his plays Fanny Kemble and Shakespeare's Universe.
He has also written librettos for operas composed by Peter Hannan.
Peter directed his adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland for the Shaw Festival in 2016.

Honours

Hinton was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009.

Selected works

  • Façade
  • Urban Voodoo
  • The Swanne trilogy
  • Librettos for The Diana Cantata and ''120 Songs for the Marquis de Sade''