Tyler Seguin

Biography

Tyler J. Seguin is a MFA candidate at the University of Calgary's School of Creative and Performing Arts studying how live theatre sparks feelings of wonder and awe in audiences, bridging the gap between storytelling and brain science to see how performance moves us.

He comes to research after twenty years of professional practice: He is an award-winning director and creator working in theatre & film, Producer at Thought For Food Productions, and Artistic Director Emeritus of Guild Festival Theatre. He is also the recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his outstanding work in the arts.

For GFT, Tyler directed Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey, The 39 Steps, Chekhov’s Shorts, Anne, Alice in Wonderland and INspiration:OUTside. Some of Tyler’s accomplishments as an administrator at GFT include the introduction of multi-show seasons, launching a festival for young audiences, initiating a new play development program, and founding the Youth Engagement Scarborough program.

Tyler co-administers the independent theatre company Thought For Food Productions with Helen Juvonen. Recent projects include Dark Heart (Toronto Star Top Production of 2018), Measure for Measure, The Trial of Judith K., and The Memo. With Thought For Food he also produced and co-directed the web series You’re Never Alone and the New France audio anthology. 

Tyler participated in the Stratford Festival’s Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction, and worked with the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival as their 2017 Artistic Associate. Other directing work includes the Dora-nominated Heartless (Favour the Brave Collective), Fringe hit Franz Ferdinand Must Die (Still Your Friend Productions), and created an experiential adaptation of The Oresteia for UTM’s Theatre Erindale. Tyler has also worked with companies such as the Sudbury Theatre Centre (Mourning Dove, assistant director), Acky-Made (Yarn, Life List - NOW magazine citation for Best Use of Space) as well as bringing The Cousins of Corsica to Stratford’s SpringWorks Festival (winner of the Audience Choice Award). He has co-created plays such as the puppet-based Handle With Care (Toronto Fringe 2013, NOW Magazine citation for outstanding design), the physical ensemble piece i (winner of Ottawa Fringe’s Patron’s Pick Award), and his site-specific production, Rearview (the only Toronto Fringe show to be stopped mid-performance by the police...) 

He is also an award-winning film-maker and in addition to performing in the comedy series Just Passing Through (winner: Canadian Comedy Award for Best Web Series), Tyler has directed two short films: Advances (winner: Toronto Food Film Festival - Best Short Film) and Weed Night, both written by Helen Juvonen. Other film credits include apprenticing on the Old Trout Puppet Workshop’s From Naughty to Nice (Winner - Best Live Action Short, Calgary Film Festival) and puppet design and performance on Ink Dragon (Winner - Noodler’s Ink Short Film Contest). 

As a performer, Tyler’s credits include Heratio (Guild Festival Theatre), The Assassination of Robert Ford: Dirty Little Liar (Still Your Friend, Best of Fringe), Julius Caesar (St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival), puppetry for the PanAm games, Little Shop of Horrors (Theatre New Brunswick), Alice in Wonderland (Sudbury Theatre Centre), Much Ado About Nothing (Single Thread Theatre), and The Importance of Being Earnest (Casa Loma).

Tyler is also a passionate educator and loves facilitating classes and workshops for learners of all ages and backgrounds. Some favourite experiences include working with Soulpepper's Youth Academy, the World Festival of Children's Theatre, the Ontario Art Teachers’ Association, Prologue for the Performing Arts, Shakespeare In Action, the Ontario Arts Council's Artists in Education Program, and the Ontario Science Centre.