Residency spotlight: Conversation with Gregory Prest
April 16, 2026
“Some of my all-time favourite moments have been when something hilariously awkward happens in public and I catch the eyes of a stranger and for a second we know exactly what each other is thinking. And then we go about our lives. It’s a beautiful intimacy.”
For actor, director, and writer Gregory Prest, even a boardroom meeting can be funny. Born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, Prest is a celebrated, multi-talented artist who has become a staple within the Canadian theatre community.
He is currently exploring his new show, Quorum, through The Theatre Centre’s Residency program in the Explorations stream. Quorum takes its name from the mundane, quaint, and taken-for-granted connections that inspire his artistic practice. Looking at the absurdity of art boards, where passionate volunteers battle bureaucratic protocol, the project embraces non-performance as performance. A continuation of Prest’s experimental style, Quorum explores the accidental hilarity and emotional intimacy in everyday interactions, what Prest calls a “shared WTF moment.” What happens when passion is trapped under protocol? And why is that so funny? Gregory Prest brings to The Theatre Centre an exploration of the emotional, comedic, and theatrical potential of a board meeting.
Prest graduated from Montreal’s National Theatre School shortly before making his directorial debut with Anita Majumdar’s Fish Eyes (2004) at the Summerworks film festival. Since arriving in Toronto, Prest has garnered dozens of director credits, receiving Dora Mavor Moore nominations for Alligator Pie (2017) and Rose: The New Musical (2019), which won Outstanding Direction. Prest’s directorial resume spans theatre classics like Spring Awakening (2017) to original projects, including the six-time Dora-nominated Bremen Town (2025).
Oliver Dennis, Sarah Wilson, and Gregory Prest in Soulpepper Theatre’s La Bete
Throughout his time in Toronto, Prest has maintained a close relationship with the artist-led Soulpepper Theatre, collaborating across 12 seasons and 45 productions. For what was perhaps his most ambitious project to date, Prest served as director and writer for Soulpepper’s De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail (2025), a musical adaption of the letter the author addressed to his lover Lord Douglas while Wilde was in prison. Prest reimagines the source material, a 50,000 word reflection never intended for the stage, into a 100-minute fantasy that explores the author’s tumultuous relationships in operatic proportions. The project received six Dora award nominations and two wins, as well as a Toronto Theatre Critic’s Award for musical direction.
A cross-disciplinary theatre-maker, Prest does not shy away from the stage. He has an impressive acting resume, with his most recent credits including The Inheritance at Canadian Stage (Dora Nomination for Outstanding Ensemble) and The Bidding War at Crow’s Theatre. On screen, Prest has a recurring role on Crave’s Pillow Talk, for which he and his castmates received a Canadian Screen Award Nomination in 2023. Over the past two decades, Prest has lent his expertise as a guest director and lecturer at Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Toronto, the National Theatre School, Sheridan College, and the Soulpepper Academy.
Our marketing and communications Intern, Lia Iannarilli, chatted with Gregory to learn more about his process and what inspires his work!
“I’m a sucker for misconstrued intension, misaligned communication, flop-sweats and subtext.”
TC: What sparked the idea for your project? How long has it been in the making?
Prest: The idea for Quorum came from years of observing non-profit arts organization board meetings and realizing they can contain a strange, accidental comedy. They’re full of procedure and polite restraint. I’m a sucker for misconstrued intension, misaligned communication, flop-sweats and subtext. Underneath the strict, jargon-filled protocols are passionate people with varying degrees of skill in public communication: sometimes hilariously very poor. I find the strict, conservative form very funny and thought it would be a great structure to try and push subversive comedy. I’ve been thinking about this for years and just started exploring the idea with a group of people in the fall.
TC: You mention the beauty of a “shared WTF” moment. Can you elaborate?
Prest: Some of my all-time favourite moments have been when something hilariously awkward happens in public and I catch the eyes of a stranger and for a second we know exactly what each other is thinking. And then we go about our lives. It’s a beautiful intimacy.
Oliver Dennis and Gregory Prest in OF HUMAN BONDAGE
Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann
Gregory Prest in Soulpepper Theatre’s Bed and Breakfast
TC: What are some words that you feel connected or aligned with in your creative work?
Prest: The words that feel closest to my work are uncertainty, certainty, curiosity, generosity, play, and collaboration. I’m interested in humour, tenderness, and the subversive – moments where something ordinary becomes accidentally revealing. I often find myself drawn to outliers and strange edges of behaviour, the places where people slip a little and something true comes through.
TC: How did you first become interested in comedy as a medium/method?
Prest: I’ve always been interested in comedy, but I battle with being a shy, sensitive, and self-conscious person. When I can stop taking myself too seriously, I’m better off creatively and in my day-to-day life. If I look back at my “worst” or cringiest moments and try to retroactively post-mortem them, I wish I had had my 11-year-old Miss Piggy-loving guardian angel self scream at me, “Lighten up, weirdo!” Comedy subverts and humbles.
TC: What is the broader purpose or intention of this project? How does it fit in with your previous work?
Prest: I want to create something that people will enjoy making, watching, participating in, and talking about. The astounding thing about this residency is knowing and accepting that the idea for this show may not work at all, which I find terrifying, funny, and healthy. I’m trying to challenge myself to create and work from a place of creative vulnerability and instinct; to desperately flirt with failure. I’m trying not to be afraid of “I don’t know”.
liza paul and Gregory Prest at our 2025 Residency Artist Intake. Photo by Jae Yang.
The Theatre Centre’s Residency Program is generously supported by:
