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R.J. Downes
Writer and Producer...Writer and Co-Producer of Tightrope, Co-Producer and Stage Manager of The Aquarium
R.J. Downes decided at the age of nine that he was going to be a writer.  Discovering acting and theatre in school he quickly found his passion for writing for the stage.  Encouraged by his teachers, R.J. even had a number of his early one-act plays produced on the stage at his high school.

As a founding member of Triple Take Productions, he first produced several of his early works in An Evening of The Absurd, in Whitby Ontario in 1995.

In the following years his work was seen along side a number of new writers works in showcases such as Triple Take’s own Multiple Madness and others. His one-act play Judgment appeared in a double bill with Paradise Lust (by Julianne Grenkie, Natalie Lauzon, Regan Macaulay, Judy Singh) and served as his introduction to Toronto audiences.

Moving to Toronto in 1996, his work for the Toronto stage continued with a double bill of his plays Homesick and Music and Laughter in 1999 and a production of Crime and Etiquette in 2001.  During these years, while constantly working on his own plays, he also wrote and co-wrote a number of sketches and short films, as well as working as a stage manager and director for a number of Fringe Festival productions.

Taking a couple of years off to pursue work on a novel, he returned to theatre with Modern Ritual at the 2003 New Ideas Festival. This was followed by Platypus at the 2004 Rhurbarb! Festival and an independently produced double bill of those two plays, also in 2004. The years 2003 and 2004 also saw R.J. once again working as a director and stage manager for Kathryn Malek’s Embracing The Black Madonna, which toured the Winnipeg, Vancouver and Montreal Fringe Festivals.

The next few years saw a number of R.J.’s one-act plays at a variety of festivals. Most notably, Nostalgia (2004), By Any Other Name (2005) and Charades (2006) for the No Sweetheart Required Valentines shows, and Without Whom (2006) for The Village Playhouse’s Two Plays and a Slice of Pie.

2006 was also another year of technical work finding R.J. stage managing very diverse projects by others:  A Winter Tale (theatrical version) for Leda Serene Films and It Was Kit for Triple Take Productions at the Toronto Fringe Festival. 2006 also found R.J. writing his first feature length movie script.

The 2007 New Ideas Festival again featured a one-act play by R.J. Downes, this time co-written with the very talented Kathryn Malek. Death to Dating, which appeared in the second week of the festival, marked their first collaboration together as writers.  A musical version of Death to Dating will appear in the 2008 Fringe of Toronto Festival, as will another of R.J.'s one-act dramatic pieces entitled Without Whom (also slated for the 2008 Hamilton Fringe).

Having become known over the last few years for his many one-act plays, he has decided to focus on full-length plays.  His recent work, Last Dance of the Dark Cloaked Avenger, produced for the first time in 2007 at the Alumnae Theatre, was the first of several full-length plays planned for production over the next few years.  Another full-length play entitled Charades was featured in First Draft in May 2008.  R.J. Downes performed in and produced his play, Without Whom at both the 2008 Fringe of Toronto Festival and the Hamilton Fringe.  2009 saw his one-act play The Stranger at the New Ideas Festival and a two night presentation at The Village Playhouse of a reading of a new full length play The Man in The Room Next Door (a comedic murder mystery in two acts).  His one-act play, Flowers, was just recently featured in "No Sweetheart Required". Up next, Tightrope, a short version for the 2010 New Ideas Festival and the full 90-minute piece for the 2010 Fringe of Toronto Festival.

For/With Triple Take:

  • Tightrope -  Writer, Co-Producer (with Triple Take and Magmoe Media)
  • The Aquarium - Co-Producer, Stage Manager
  • The Dark Cloaked Avenger Series - Writer, Producer
  • Without Whom - Writer, Producer, Actor (Fringe of Toronto Festival 2008 and Hamilton Fringe Festival 2008) - a Beautiful Lie co-production with Triple Take Productions and Blue Fire Productions
  • Last Dance of The Dark Cloaked Avenger - Writer, Director, Producer, Set Design and poster illustration
  • It Was Kit – Stage Manager, Lighting Design, Sound Operator
  • The Space Zombies Trilogy and Feature – Actor (Lance Serious)
  • Sketch TV (pilot) – Co-Writer, Actor (Mafia Guy, Crazy Mike, Short Gourd-piano Player)
  • Interview – Writer, Actor (Himself)
  • Crime and Etiquette – Writer, Director, Stage Manager, Sound Operator
  • Watching Mr. Body – Co-Writer, Actor (The Living Dead Body)
  • Homesick – Writer, Director, Producer, Actor (Old Man)
  • Music and Laughter - Writer, Producer
  • The Scary Bitch Project – Co-Writer, Actor (“Rob”)
  • Sketch TV (short version) – Co-Writer, Co-Director, Actor
  • The Foreign Film – Co-Writer
  • Multiple Madness – Writer and Director of The Toilet Paper War, Actor, Producer
  • Evening of the Absurd – Writer of most of the one-acts, Producer, Director, Stage Manager
  • Judgment – Writer, Producer
  • A Short History of Night – Producer, Actor (Tycho Brahe)
  • Unwanted Guests (short film in development) - Production Manager - ON HOLD
  • Seeing the Light (in development) - Stage Manager (one-act play)
  • Antony and Miranda (in development) – Actor

Other Credits:

  • Tightrope - Writer (2010 New Ideas Festival)
  • Flowers - Writer ("No Sweethearts Required")
  • The Man in the Room Next Door - Writer (a two night reading at The Village Playhouse)
  • The Stranger - Writer (2009 New Ideas Festival)
  • Death to Dating:  A Play With Song and Dance - Co-Writer, Producer (Fringe of Toronto Festival 2008)
  • Playwrights of Spring Festival - Producer (Theatre Aurora)
  • Death to Dating - Co-Writer (2006 New Ideas Festival)
  • Without Whom - Writer (Cabbagetown Theatre/Village Playhouse's 2006 "Two Plays and a Slice of Pie")
  • For Richard or Poorer - Writer (Cabbagetown Theatre Company's 2006 Slaw Festival)
  • Charades - Writer ("No Sweethearts Required" V, Village Playhouse, 2006)
  • A Winter Tale – Stage Manager (Leda Serene Films and CaribbeanTales, 2006)
  • Fiction - Writer (The Weddings Show, 2005)
  • Coffee Black - Writer (Cabbagetown Theatre Company's 2005 Slaw Festival)
  • By Any Other Name - Writer, Assistant Director ("No Sweethearts Required" IV, Village Playhouse, 2005)
  • Platypus and Modern Ritual - Writer, Producer, Director, Stage Manager (Beautiful Lie Productions, 2004)
  • Embracing the Black Madonna - Producer, Director, Stage Manager (Montreal and Vancouver Fringe Festivals, Blue Fire Productions, 2004)
  •  Platypus - Writer, Stage Manager (Retro Rhubarb! Festival, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 2004)
  • Nostalgia - Writer ("No Sweethearts Required" III, Village Playhouse, 2004)
  • Embracing the Black Madonna - Co-Producer, Stage Manager (Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Blue Fire Productions, 2003)
  • Modern Ritual - Writer, Stage Manager (New Ideas Festival, Alumnae Theatre, 2003)
  • Four Plays by R.J. Downes - Writer, Director, Producer (Beautiful Lie Productions, 2002)
  • A Year of Lovin' - Actor (Fringe of Toronto Festival, Spellbinder Entertainment, 2002)
  • The Penis Chronicles - Director, Stage Manager (Fringe of Toronto Festival, Richard Johnson Productions, 2001)
  • The Sorceress - Stage Manager (Fringe of Toronto Festival, Why Buy the Cow Productions, 2000)
  • The Fantastiks - Assistant Stage Manager (Stage Centre Productions, 1999)
  • The Government Inspector - Assistant Stage Manager (Stage Centre Productions, 1998)
  • Crime and Etiquette (radio version) - Writer, Producer, Director (R.J. Downes Productions, 1998)
  • The Toilet Paper War - Writer, Director, Stage Manager (Henry Street Productions, 1995)
  • Synthetic Dreams - Writer, Director (Henry Street Productions, 1994)
This Article Last Modified: March 28, 2010 6:24 PM