ROss Manson

Ross Manson is an award-winning director, a translator, an actor, and the founding artistic director of Volcano, an internationally acclaimed theatre company based in Toronto. Volcano is an independent, concept-driven company characterized by multi-disciplinarity and collaboration across intersectional identities. Ross’s shows for Volcano have toured to four continents, and won or been nominated for over seventy-five local, national and international awards. His work has been seen at: Canadian Stage Company; Tarragon Theatre; Factory Theatre; Luminato Festival; Vancouver East Cultural Centre; Traverse Theatre Scotland; LiteraturFest Berlin; ArtsEmerson, Boston; PS122 New York; National Svenska Theatre, Helsinki; Reykjavik Arts Festival, Iceland; SESC São Paulo, Brazil; Ubumuntu Festival, Rwanda; and the Edinburgh International Festival, among many others. Award recognition includes Toronto Theatre Dora Awards as a director, a theatre-maker, and a producer; the KM Hunter award in Theatre; and short lists for the Siminovitch National Directing award (twice); the Ontario Premiere’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the Toronto Arts Foundation Cultural Leadership Award. 

NOW Magazine cover story 2003
“We’ve inherited a method of work here that’s part history, part England, part budget. It’s very efficient — but it can hem you in artistically.”

The Scientific Director 2005
Manson's approach strives to create what he calls "cognitive dissonance" …  "It's a way of getting around forgetfulness." Thematically, he is fascinated with the notion of prophecy and legacy -- "how actions in the present moment will affect the future and whether we think about that."

Preparing a Century of Song 2016
“The trust that evolves in collaborating with a team over many years is enormous. And because so much of what we do is experimental, and often quite fragile, trust helps us make the right decisions.”

In Conversation: Odile Gakire Katese and Ross Manson 2019
“I believe that everything is story. We are made up of stories, the stories that we carry around in our heads invent us and put the world around us into reality.”