talented younger actors with challenging roles and effectively turning company members Jim Mezon, Heath Lamberts, and Fiona Reid into stars. Newton also widened the mandate of the Shaw Festival (the performance of plays written and set in Bernard Shaw's lifetime, 1856–1950) by programming the works of lesser known playwrights such as Granville Barker, whose entire oeuvre was performed at the Shaw Festival in a series of highly praised productions directed by Neil Munro. Newton's final season as artistic director of the Shaw was in 2002, and he invited Jackie Maxwell to join him for the season as artistic director designate to ensure a careful transition of leadership. Since his departure, he worked as a freelance director and actor for companies such as the Canadian Opera Company, the Vancouver Playhouse, Theatre Calgary, and the Stratford Festival. He also returned to the Shaw Festival in 2004 to direct Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and in 2005 to direct R. C. Sherriff's Journey's End. Honours Newton was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1995. He was named an Officer in 2018. Christopher Newton's other awards include the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts (2000), the Molson Prize; and, from the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT), the Thomas DeGaetani Award, all honouring his lifetime contribution to the theatre. Personal life and death Newton died on 20 December 2021, at the age of 85. References External links An Interview with Christopher Newton, Legend Library, TheatreMuseumCanada Entry at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca 1936 births 2021 deaths Officers of the Order of Canada People from Deal, Kent English emigrants to Canada Canadian theatre directors Canadian male stage actors People educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School Alumni of the University of Leeds Purdue University alumni University of Illinois alumni Governor General's Performing Arts Award winners Canadian artistic directors