Tom Bentley-Fisher has been the artistic director of five professional theatres, has directed over one hundred productions at theatres across Canada, Spain, and the U.S, and has taught his approach to movement and acting in universities, theatre schools, and studios throughout North America and Europe for over 30 years. He began his career as an actor, training in New York and London with Sanford Meisner and Yat Malmgren, and then performed in London’s West End before turning his hand to teaching and directing.

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Early on, Tom developed a reputation for developing and staging physically evocative world premieres for some of Canada’s finest playwrights, as well as the premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel’s The Oldest Profession. His productions have been featured at the acclaimed Festival Grec de Barcelona, including his 2016, multi-lingual international co-production of Burning Vision, incorporating film, dance and original music. He has also been featured at the Festival Teatre Clásico de Mérida in Spain, directing his all female version of The Iliad.

 

Since 2007, Tom has been the artistic director of Tant per Tant, Theatre in Translation, an international multi-lingual theatre company producing and exchanging work between Canada and Spain. He is currently the artistic director of the international Yat-Bentley Centre for Performance. Tom’s approach is based on the work of Yat Malmgren, The Psychology of Movement. Actors trained in Yat’s approach include Sir Anthony Hopkins, Cate Blanchett, Sean Connery, Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, Helen McCrory, and Michael Fassbender.

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TRAINING

Yat Malmgren - Drama Centre, London

Sanford Meisner - Neighborhood Playhouse, New York City
 

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Canadian Actors Equity Association
SOCAN - Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada