Maurice Podbrey CM (born April 25, 1934) is a South African actor and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

. He has spent much of his career in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where he co-founded and was the artistic director of the English-language

Centaur Theatre The Centaur Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Montreal, Quebec. It was co-founded in 1969 by Maurice Podbrey along with The Centaur Foundation for the Performing Arts. It currently has Eda Holmes as the Artistic and Executive Director, ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Biography

Podbrey was born in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

in 1934 into a Lithuanian Jewish family. His father had had Bundist sympathies and his politics influenced his children; Podbrey's sister Pauline later became a trade union organiser. Podbrey was educated at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

and at the College of Education; after graduating, he emigrated to England and worked as a schoolteacher. In 1959, he switched careers to work as an actor and director. He briefly served as the artistic director for the Chester Playhouse before moving again to

in 1967, when he was invited to join the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, french: École nationale de théâtre du Canada) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants aw ...

as an instructor. Seeking to remedy the lack of English-language theatre in Montreal, Podbrey and Herb Auerbach opened a theatre company in Montreal's former

Montreal Stock Exchange The Montreal Exchange (MX; french: Bourse de Montréal), formerly the Montreal Stock Exchange (MSE), is a derivatives exchange, located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that trades futures contracts and option (finance), options on equities, indices, c ...

building on François-Xavier St. in

Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...

. Podbrey was the artistic director of the newly founded Centaur Theatre, with Auerbach acting as president and founding chairman. Having seen and admired the work of South African playwright

Athol Fugard Athol Fugard, Hon. , (born 11 June 1932), is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright. He is best known for his political and penetrating plays opposing the system of apart ...

in London, Podbrey introduced his work to the North American theatre scene by staging ''People Are Living There'' at the Centaur in 1975. Podbrey held his position as artistic director of the Centaur until his retirement in 1997, when he was succeeded by Gordon McCall. He then returned to South Africa and founded Mopo Cultural Trust, a non-profit devoted to developing South African theatre. Podbrey was awarded membership of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

on April 19, 1991, for his services to the performing arts in Canada.

Film and television performances

Bibliography

Charlebois, Gaetan. "Maurice Podbrey." ''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia''. N.p., 5 July 2013. Web. Marsh, James H. "Centaur Theatre." ''The Canadian Encyclopedia: Year 2000 Edition''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000. 425-26. Print. Podbrey, Maurice, and R. Bruce. Henry. ''Half Man, Half Beast: Making a Life in Canadian Theatre''. Montréal: Véhicule Press, 1997. Print.

References

External links

Interview with Theatre Museum Canada, 30 May 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Podbrey, Maurice 1934 births Living people Canadian theatre directors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Canadian people of South African descent South African expatriates in Canada Members of the Order of Canada University of the Witwatersrand alumni