Garry Williams
Garry Williams (he/him) is a Canadian theatre artist and musician and artistic director of DaPoPo Theatre. He has lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia since 2002. His art practice includes acting, singing, directing, writing, music directing, and composing. He tends to burst spontaneously into song, has an insatiable sweet tooth, and likes to be known as an enabler for fun. He is a lay gardener and an avid reader.
He joined the Pageant players for A Windfall in the Hollow (2023) and returned for A Flicker in the Field (2024) as composer, collaborative lyricist, and musical director.
His performances and musical scores have been celebrated with multiple Merritt nominations, including wins for his performance as Polonius/Gravedigger in Hamlet (2023), as well as his original scores for Pinocchio (2017, 2023), and the queer holocaust musical KAMP (2018). In 2023 he was presented with the Arts NS Established Artist Award. He is the Artistic Director of DaPoPo Theatre and collaboratively runs the community arts hub The Nest.
He was raised in the United States and Germany by artists parents, where he studied Musicology at the Free University Berlin, English and Vocal Performance at Mount Allison University. In Berlin, he performed with the English language theatre group BGT, and founded the a cappella group The Shower Show Tunes. He taught German at Manhattanville College, where he took theatre and music classes. He studied Theatre of the Oppressed with Julian and Augusto Boal.
Combining his love for theatre and music, he has directed dozens of Musicals, operettas, operas for schools, universities, workshops, and amateur companies. He used to run a weekly Sing-Along Show Tunez event. He has collaborated with several companies and organisations including Villains Theatre, Theatre Outré, LunaSea Theatre, Shakespeare by the Sea, and The River Clyde Pageant.
Most recently, he has directed Les Misérables for the Halifax Grammar School, as well as a reading of Jay Whitehead’s play 333. He will be playing the role of Thomas in Casey & Diana at the Neptune Theatre in April-May 2025. He is currently working on a play about Helena Scheuberin, survivor of a 1485 witch trail led by inquisitor Heinrich Kramer in Innsbruck, Austria.