“Dr. Douglas Abel has an outstanding gift of bringing out the authenticity in texts, both in dramatic and musical works. Our students were fortunate that he so openly shared his expertise, as he champions his students to reach their full potential in their performances.”
Cara Brown, Lyric Soprano and Voice Instructor
FILM & TELEVISION
- Actor/Grandpa Lewis, Who’s Your Monster?, Bad Angels Prod., Dir. Stuart Gillard
- Actor/Chancellor, Magic Beyond Words, Strange Magic Prod., Dir. Paul A. Kaufman
- Narrator, Wolves of Labrador, Karvonen Films, Dir. Andrew Manske
- Principal, Monitor, CBC, Dir. Jeffrey Kaufmann
- Principal, Encounter with Orion, CBC, Dir. Dennis Hargrave
- Principal, The Captain of Kopenick, CBC, Dir. David Giles
- Narrator, Arctic Winter Games Opening Ceremonies, Dir. Bruce Hennel
THEATRE (selected)
- Abram, Our Class, United Players, Dir. Victor Vasuta
- Horsham, Waste, United Players, Dir. William B. Davis
- Robert, Proof, Keyano Theatre, Dir. Sarah Ferguson
- Freddy, Picasso of the Lapin Agile, Keyano Theatre, Dir. Sarah Ferguson
- Willy Loman, Death of a Salesman, Keyano Theatre, Dir. Thomas Peacocke
- Baptista, The Taming of the Shrew, Keyano Theatre, Dir. James MacDonald
- Norman Bethune, Gone the Burning Sun, Great West Theatre, Dir. Susan Millar
- Narrator/Pianist, Billy Bishop Goes to War, Prime Stock Theatre, Dir. Douglas Abel
- Christopher Marlowe, To Ride in Triumph, Alleyway Theatre, Dir. Thomas Usher
- Creon, Oedipus Rex, TNL, Dir. Edmund McLean
- Ralph Nickleby, Nicholas Nickleby, Stephenville Fesitval, Dir. Douglas Abel
- Father Power, A Rope Against the Sun, Stephenville Festival, Dir. Edmund McLean
- Richard Winthrop,The Ghost Train, Red Barn Theatre, Dir. Brian Longstaff
DIRECTING (selected)
- The Importance of Being Earnest, Keyano Theatre Company, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- What the Butler Saw, Keyano Theatre Company, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Victoriana, Studio 99, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- The Comedy of Errors, Keyano Theatre Company, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Amadeus, Keyano Theatre Company, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Medea, Studio 99, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Waiting for the Parade, Studio 99, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Ghosts, Keyano Theatre Company, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Old Times, Studio 99, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- The Crucible, Keyano Theatre Company, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- The Trojan Women, Studio 99, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- A Rope Against the Sun, Studio 99, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Twelfth Night, Studio 99, Fort McMurray, Alberta
- Billy Bishop Goes to War, Prime Stock Theatre, Red Deer, Alberta
- Nicholas Nickleby, Stephenville Festival, Nfld
- Trickster (Arts Festival Production), Humanities Theatre, University of Waterloo
- Richard III, Theatre of the Arts, University of Waterloo
- Les Belles Soeurs, Studio Theatre, University of Waterloo
- Dr. Faustus, Humanities Theatre, University of Waterloo
- Asterisk, St. Lawrence Summer Playhouse, Kingston
- Blithe Spirit, Toronto Truck Theatre
PLAYWRITING
- Translator and adapter, Medea, Keyano VPA Studio 99 Theatre, 2004
- A Moving Song, commissioned and produced by Wayawitmayihk Theatre Company, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Dir. Karen Towsley, 2002. Remounted by Katie’s Playhouse Theatre, Fort McMurray, Alberta, June 2009, Dir. Georg Gerow
- Translator and adapter, The Trojan Women, Keyano VPA Studio 99 Theatre, 1998
- The Cattle Pen, produced at the Alleyway Theatre, Buffalo, N.Y., Dir. Neal Radice, 1991. Playwrights Canada microtext, 1991
- To Ride in Triumph, a one man show about Christopher Marlowe, professionally produced by the University of Waterloo Centre for the Arts, January, 1988. Playwrights Canada microtext, 1989. Minneapolis Fringe Festival, 1999
- Translator, Interior, (Maeterlinck), U. W. Arts Festival, 1987
EDUCATION
- Certified Trainer, Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy
- Graduate Courses at the National Centre for Voice and Speech (Denver)/University of Iowa: Principles of Voice Production, Instrumentation, Vocology
- Voice Methods and Speech Methods Workshops, William and Mary College, Virginia
- Phonetic Pillows, Joy of Phonetics and Linklater Voice workshops with Louis Colaianni
- National Voice Intensive with David Smukler, Vancouver, B.C.
- Extended Voice workshops with Richard Armstrong, Banff Centre, Alberta
- M.A., Ph.D., Graduate Drama Centre, University of Toronto
- L.R.A.M. (speech and drama), Royal Academy of Music, London
- Diploma in acting, The Drama Studio, London
- B.A. (Honours) Queen’s University at Kingston
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
- Drama program head and instructor, Visual and Performing Arts Department, Keyano College, Fort McMurray, Alberta (1990-2009)
- Instructor, Speech and Dialects, Ryerson Theatre School, Toronto (1989-90)
- Instructor, Summer Drama Academy, Stephenville Festival, Stephenville, Nfld. (1988)
- Assistant Professor, Drama Department, University of Waterloo (1981-90)
COURSES TAUGHT
Voice and speech, speech and dialects, first, second and third year acting and text analysis, styles in acting, directing, theatre history, criticism, script interpretation, Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, modern drama, children’s theatre, modern literature, public speaking, introduction to drama and theatre, play analysis, creative expression.
WORKSHOPS, ADJUDICATION, COACHING (selected)
- Dialect workshops, “Accentuate the Positive,” Alberta Provincial High School One-Act Play Festival
- Adjudicator, Alberta Provincial Adult One-Act Play Festival
- Dialect Coach, West Moon, Westwood Community High School
- Voice and Dialect Coach, Treasure Island, Keyano Theatre
- Accents and dialects workshop, Walterdale Theatre (Edmonton), Theatre Alberta’s Dramaworks
- Dialect Coach, Communicating Doors, Walterdale Theatre, Edmonton
Accentuate the Positive 