Domville, James de Beaujeu, 1933- : James de Beaujeu Domville, director, producer and arts administrator, was born in Cannes, France in 1933, son of Henri de Gaspé Domville and Elsie Welsh (Saltus). Educated at McGill University where he received a Bachelor of Common Law, he enjoyed his first theatrical success there through the musical satire "My Fur Lady". The revue travelled to Stratford and toured Canada in 1957-58. The production company, Quince Productions, which was formed by Domville, Timothy Porteous, Donald MacSween and Brian Macdonald, put together another musical revue entitled "Jubilee" which did not repeat the same commercial success. Together with Brian Macdonald, Domville produced the 1960 version of the perennial favourite "Spring Thaw", which again enjoyed full houses with a strong cast starring Toby Robin, Paul Kligman and Barbara Templeton.
As a theatre generalist, James de B. Domville's skills at the interpretation of successful theatre design led to his involvement in the planning of numerous theatre centres. These included the Fredericton Playhouse, the University of Sherbrooke Theatre, the National Arts Centre of Canada and several centennial auditorium projects.
Domville enjoyed, as well, a long association with numerous professional theatre organizations. From 1960-1964, he served as the first Administrator Director, and then as Director General (1964-1968), for the National Theatre School; from 1968-1972, he was Executive Director of Le Théâtre du Nouveau Monde. As Secretary of the Canadian Theatre Centre of the International Theatre Institute (1964-68), James de B. Domville, together with Tom Hendry, organized "Colloquium 67: The Design of Theatres", an international conference exploring new concepts in theatre architecture, which was scheduled to coincide with Expo 67. As Canadian representative, he attended numerous conferences world-wide, organized by such institutions as the International Theatre Institute and the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology.
Together with Jean Gascon (with whom Domville operated a company entitled Projets de Théâtre Projects), he worked for over two years on the development of a Federal Pavilion Project for Expo 67, designed to be a multi-media interplay between actors and a series of filmed sequences. Conceived as a showcase for the talents of a wide-ranging group of artists who would act as collaborators, including Claude Jutra, Denys Arcand, Alan Lund, John Wayne and Frank Shuster, their project was, unfortunately, rejected.
A long relationship with the Canada Council led to James de Beaujeu Domville's tenure on the Advisory Arts Panel (1968-1969) and his subsequent Chairmanship (1969-1972). He attended several conferences on the state of theatre in Canada and on playwriting at the Council's Stanley House in Cape Breton. Domville went on to a long career in film with both the National Film Board of Canada, where he served as a Government Film Commissioner and Chairman, and with the C.B.C. as a director (1979-1984). James de Beaujeu Domville has served on numerous boards and, in 1977, received the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal.
