Philip A. Burrows

Philip A. Burrows [http://philipburrows.com/] "(Director/Teacher/Actor)" is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts [http://www.aada.org/html/main.html] and the National Theater Institute [http://www.conncoll.edu/NTI/nti0100.htm] at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center [http://www.theoneill.org/] . He was the Artistic and Resident Director of the Dundas Repertory Season, in Nassau, from its beginning in 1981 through 1997. Mr. Burrows left The Bahamas in 1997, for three years, to introduce and teach a Theatre Arts program at Lester B. Pearson College [http://www.pearsoncollege.ca/] in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Some of his directing credits include "Sweeney Todd", "The Rimers of Eldritch", "The Good Doctor", "The Foreigner", "Agnes of God" and "Six Degrees of Separation". In addition, he brought a number of original works to the Bahamian stage, most notably "You Can Lead A Horse to Water", "No Seeds in Babylon", "Powercut", "Father's Day", and "I, Nehemiah, Remember When...(Chapters One, Two and Three)". In August 1991, he headed the contingent, of some thirty performers, which took part in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe [http://www.edfringe.com/] where, under his direction, the first production of "Music of the Bahamas" [http://www.burrowsweb.net/ringplay/music.html] was staged. That production was co-written, for the stage, by Mr. Burrows and his wife, Nicolette Bethel [http://nicobethel.net/blogworld/] . As an actor, he has appeared in Edward Albee's "The Zoo Story", Neil Simon’s "The Odd Couple" and Lyle Kessler's "Orphans" in Nassau; and in New York, he played, among others, the role of 'Alton' in Lorraine Hansberry's "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window". His first appearance at the Dundas was in 1976 as a member of the Nassau Amateur Operatic Society in "Hello Dolly" and then in 1977 he appeared in their production of "Finian's Rainbow". He later put his musical ability to work as co-director of E. Clement Bethel’s [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Clement_Bethel] "Sammie Swain" and of the first Bahamian opera, "Our Boys"; of the latter he was also responsible, with Winston Saunders [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Saunders] , for the libretto. For The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism [http://www.bahamas.com/bahamas/index.aspx] , he has directed five Cacique Award [http://www.caciqueawards.com/] ceremonies and wrote and directed "Bahamian Rhapsody" which was performed at The Apollo Theatre [http://www.apollotheater.org/] in New York. He was responsible for the co-direction of the 20th and 25th "Anniversary of Bahamian Independence" productions staged on Clifford Park and he directed the 30th, 32nd, 34th and 35th anniversary productions. Mr. Burrows also directed productions of "You Can Lead A Horse to Water", in 1984, in San Francisco with the Eureka Theatre Company [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Theatre_Company] and co-director Richard Seyd [http://www.seydways.com/] , and again in 2005 at Grand Valley State University [http://www.gvsu.edu/theatre/] , in Michigan, with students from that institution. His television credits include "Quincentennial Update"; the Bahamian game show "Brainstorm", of which he was creator and executive producer; the television program "Guess Who’s Cooking [http://guesswhoscooking.com/] " of which he was director, co-producer and editor; he served as producer for the video productions of "Music of The Bahamas", "The National Art Gallery ... A Work of Art" and "The Bahamian Macbeth", and he has directed several commercials. Mr. Burrows has held numerous acting workshops, both in Nassau and in Freeport, Bahamas and in October of 2001 he made his film-directing debut with Plantation Pictures’ production of the Bahamian film "Powercut [http://www.burrowsweb.net/powercut/home.html] ". Mr. Burrows has been responsible for the direction of over ninety productions, over sixty of which have been plays.