Greg Wanless

From 1982 until 2012, Greg was the Artistic Director and from 1982 until 2010 the General Manager of the Thousand Islands Playhouse where he oversaw the steady growth of the company both in audience attendance and artistic excellence. From a modest beginning of three plays over a ten week season and an audience of fewer than six thousand, the company has grown ‘dramatically’.

In 2004 the Playhouse acquired the Gananoque Armouries building and Wanless lead the conversion project to renovate this historical structure into the Firehall Theatre, a flexible black box performance space. The Playhouse now presents seven productions in two theatres over a twenty-six week season to a total audience of over forty-four thousand.

In addition the Playhouse annually produced a ‘Young Company’ production that toured throughout eastern Ontario visiting schools and recreation programs. The Young Company often includes DAN School students and graduates. The Playhouse is also the host production company for the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition held every two years by the Queen’s DAN School of Drama and Music.

Greg attended the National Theatre School graduating in 1972 and worked as a professional actor for ten years. He was a member of the Stratford Festival Acting Company for five seasons from 1976-1980 before returning to Kingston and completing his degree in 1982. He has been teaching at Queen’s since 1982 and has directed a number of productions for the department notably Blood Relations (2013), Midsummer Night’s Dream (2010), The Good Woman of Setzuan (2006), Volpone (2004) and The Beggars’ Opera (1995)