Artists' Biographies
ROD BEATTIE (actor) A veteran of fifteen seasons with the
Stratford Festival (most recently in Wingfield's Inferno in the 2005 season),
Rod Beattie is one of the most respected and versatile actors in Canadian theatre.
His extensive credits include radio, television, film and live performances across Canada;
featured roles include Ed in Ed's Garage at Theatre Orangeville, Felix in
The Odd Couple at Segal Centre, Montreal, Johnny Pateen Mike in
The Cripple of Inishmaan at Theatre Calgary, Bill in The Love List
and Greg in Sylvia at the Belfry Theatre, Victoria, John Proctor in
The Crucible and Father Gustave in Blessings in Disguise at
Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Professor in Oleanna at the Grand Theatre and the
National Arts Centre (opposite Sandra Oh) and Andy Ladd in an Ontario tour of Love
Letters (opposite Martha Henry). Over the past twenty years or so Rod's name has
become synonymous with the Wingfield series which has brought him acting awards, rave reviews
and sold-out houses in Toronto, London, Stratford, Victoria, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary,
Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Saint John, Fredericton and a host of smaller communities across
Canada. Rod and Walt made their American debuts to great acclaim at The Cincinnati Playhouse
in the Park in 1994. Rod is the winner of the 1991-92 "Dora" Award (best performance by
an actor in a leading role) for his performance in the first three Wingfield plays.
Beattie is astonishingly adept at transforming himself
from one character to another in a matter of seconds,
calling up echoes of a crotchety Walter Brennan, a
gawky Jimmy Stewart or a flustered Bob Newhart
-- The
Toronto Star
With his man-next-door face -- perfect for a character
like Walt -- Beattie flows to other roles with a twist
of the lip, the arch of an eyebrow, a different bend in
the back and a wonderful array of different voices.
-- The Globe and Mail
DAN NEEDLES (playwright) Dan Needles spent half of his childhood
in the city and half on the family farm at Rosemont, Ontario.
After university he went to work as editor of the local
newspaper in Shelburne where he created the character of Walt
Wingfield, the retired stockbroker turned farmer, who told about
his adventures on the farm in a series of weekly letters to the
editor. In 1985 Dan drew from these columns to write his first
play Letter From Wingfield Farm. Wingfield's Progress followed
in 1987, Wingfield's Folly in 1990, Wingfield Unbound in
1997, Wingfield On Ice in 2001, Wingfield's Inferno in
2005 and Wingfield Lost and Found in 2009. For fifteen years Dan
delighted readers of Harrowsmith Country Life with his back-page column
True Confessions from the Ninth Concession. His Petunia Valley Sideroad is
still a regular and much anticipated feature of Country Guide Magazine. Dan won
the 2003 Leacock Medal for Humour for his book With Axe and Flask, the History of
Persephone Township from Pre-Cambrian Times to the Present. His latest book
Wingfield's World, a novelization of all seven Wingfield plays, is slated for
release in October, 2011. Dan's other plays include The Perils of Persephone,
Ed's Garage and The Last Christmas Turkey.
Dan Needles has much the same gift for gentle comedy as
England's James Herriot of All Creatures Great and
Small glory.
-- The Toronto Sun
A kind of philosophical Will Rogers touch with a flair
for the well told anecdote that is like the best of
W.O. Mitchell, AND IT'S FUNNY!
-- CKLN Newswave
DOUGLAS BEATTIE (director) Douglas Beattie became an independent
producer and director in 1979. His association with Dan Needles
goes back to childhood summers spent on the farm. In addition to
heading the Wingfield team Doug has been guest director at the Stratford Festival,
the Belfry Theatre, Victoria,
Lighthouse Festival, Port Dover ON, Theatre Orangeville, the
Blyth Festival, the Piggery Theatre, North Hatley PQ,
Thousand Islands Playhouse, Gryphon Theatre, Barrie ON, and the
Grand Theatre, London ON (The Perils of Persephone). He
was consultant to Primedia's television production of Letter From
Wingfield Farm which won the 1991 "Gemini" Award for best
performing arts program and is co-executive producer of the Wingfield TV series.
He is also founding Artistic Director of Touchmark Theatre in Guelph ON and President
of Douglas Beattie Theatrical Productions Ltd. which markets the CDs and DVDs of the Wingfield
plays (click on "DVDs & CDs" at left).
The third partner, invisible but important, is director
Douglas Beattie, who keeps it all seeming simple, but actually being quite complex.
-- The Toronto Star
Bottom Photo by J.J. Meredith