Michael Whitfield

Michael Whitfield entered the theatre world by accident. Studying at Physics and Chemistry at UVic, Whitfield took a course in Theatre to get a mandatory arts credit. He soon realized that theatre was where he be longed. Whitfields background in science drew him to lighting.

Thus began four decades of national and international lighting design for theatre, opera, and ballet. For 25 years he was the resident lighting designer at the Stratford Festival where he created lighting designs for over 100 productions. Concurrently he designed for the Shaw Festival and many of Canada’s regional theatres.

Whitfield has also designed for the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, as well as for companies in Montreal, Ottawa, Hamilton, Edmonton, Calgary, Banff and, Vancouver. He has also designed internationally for opera companies in the United States, Wales and, the Netherlands. His designs for ballet have ben featured at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, the American Ballet Theatre, the Finnish National Ballet, the Canadian Native Arts Foundation and the Banff Centre.

In addition to his extensive professional design career, Whitfield has taught at many educational institutions including, the University of Illinois, York University, The University of Windsor and, the National Theatre School of Canada. Now, he has found himself back the Phoenix to help mentor the careers of other young designers.