Out of the Box Productions
​Co-Artistic Directors

Gwenyth Dobie

Gwenyth Dobie, a certified Alexander Technique teacher and Yoga practitioner, teaches movement for actors and devised theatre in the Department of Theatre at York University, in Toronto, Ontario.

Gwenyth is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Out of the Box Productions, a performance fusion company that creates original works integrating spoken text, dance, music and interactive technology. Her producing and directing credits include Opera Erotique, which toured in BC and was remounted in Toronto; The Third Taboo, which toured western Canada; Prior Engagement at Belfry Studio Theatre in Victoria, BC; Sound in Silence premiered at the Belfry in Victoria and the Theatre Centre in Toronto; and Bugzzz ~ A Cautionary Tale at Toronto’s Theatre Direct.

Most recently Gwenyth has worked on 3 immersive interactive works: Chromesthesia, Disrupting Solitude and Rallentando.

Other directing credits include the Canadian premiere of the Danish opera On this Planet by Anders Nordendoft, the world premiere of the opera Eyes on the Mountain, composed by Christopher Donison and Handel’s Oratorio Solomon for Toronto’s Pax Christi Chorale. For York University, she has directed two pan faculty productions: Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera.

William J Mackwood

William Mackwood is Co-Artistic Director of the innovative, multi-disciplinary company, Out of the Box Productions. Over the last ten years he has co-created and lead the design team for productions of Opera Erotique, The Third Taboo, Prior Engagement, Sound in Silence, and Bugzzz~ a cautionary tale.

On faculty at York University, he serves as Graduate Program Director for the MFA in Dance, teaches Dance Production, Lighting Design for Dance and The Interactive Stage.  William's research pursues a rigorous investigation of digital-based visual design, with a focus on developing and illuminating ‘emerging interactive modalities’ for live performance, through his teaching and interactive projects ‘Chromesthesia’ (2018), ‘Disrupting Solitude’ (2017) and ‘Rallentando’ (2015-16), with co-creator Gwenyth Dobie.

As a designer William focuses on lighting and projection design for dance, including the dance creations of Roberto Campanella, Holly Small, Julia Sasso, John Ottman, Paul Destrooper and many others.

​William is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada.​

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