About
I'm a theatre director and producer based in Toronto.
I was born and raised in Scarborough. I studied acting and performance before becoming a director and performance maker, and spent eight years in Vancouver before returning to Toronto.
I direct, produce and help other artists develop their work. I’m drawn to performances that invite people into something together: a game, an intimate encounter, a question they can’t quite leave alone.
Through Re:Current Theatre, I ask how a performance can change the way we relate to one another. As a producer, I work out what it needs: the space, time, resources and people to make it happen.
Being silly is something worth taking seriously.
I want room for humour, uncertainty and trying something before knowing whether it will work. I also care about what making that work asks of people. Rest, access and care shape how I plan, collaborate and make decisions.
Working in disability arts and collaborative creation has taught me to ask who can take part, what we’re asking of people and what needs to change. In Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process, I help people ask questions and give feedback while leaving the artistic choices with the artist.
I’m now Artistic Producer at Theatre Direct, alongside my independent directing and producing work. Whether I’m in rehearsal or planning a festival, I want people to be able to ask questions, try things and change their minds.
Professional bios
Short Professional Bio (100 words)
Brian Postalian (Բրայն Փոսթալյան) is an award-winning theatre director and producer based in Toronto. He makes performances that invite people to play, participate and meet one another. Trained in acting and performance, he brings an artist’s perspective to producing, helping collaborators develop ideas and find the resources to realize them. His work includes New Societies, The Smile Off Your Face and Access Me. Rest, access, care and room for experimentation shape his approach. Brian is Artistic Producer at Theatre Direct and Founder and Artistic Director of Re:Current Theatre. He also teaches and facilitates creative development and feedback with independent artists.
Long Professional Bio (334 words)
Brian Postalian (Բրայն Փոսթալյան) is an award-winning theatre director, producer and performance maker based in Toronto. Born and raised in Scarborough, he studied acting and performance before becoming a director and developing a producing practice alongside his artistic work.
He makes theatre that invites people into a shared experience. Sometimes that means an audience building a society together; sometimes it means an intimate performance for one person. Working with plays, games and collaborative creation, Brian is interested in what people discover through taking part, and how the invitation itself shapes their experience.
Through Re:Current Theatre, which he founded and leads as Artistic Director, Brian created, directed and produced New Societies, a participatory strategy game presented across Canada and online. A Mandarin-language adaptation was presented online in Taipei. He also directed and produced The Smile Off Your Face, which received the SummerWorks Award for Best Production.
Brian is a co-creator, producer and associate director of Access Me with the Boys in Chairs Collective. Developed over eight years, the work was published in Interdependent Magic: Disability Performance in Canada. Brian and his fellow co-creators were nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play.
As a producer, Brian works with artists, companies and festivals to develop projects and carry them through funding, planning and presentation. He helps artists articulate what they want to make, build partnerships and find a workable path forward, with space for the idea to change. He is currently Artistic Producer at Theatre Direct.
His experience in disability arts and collaborative creation informs his attention to rest, access and care. These shape practical decisions about time, resources, participation and what a process asks of people. He values clear communication and room to experiment, reconsider and play.
Brian also teaches and facilitates creative development and feedback as a certified practitioner of Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. He spent eight years in Vancouver, completing an MFA at Simon Fraser University before returning to Toronto.
He believes being silly is something worth taking seriously.