David Baird is a composer, theatre director and author, born in 1956 in Canada. He was not born in Wales, but built a significant part of his early career there: he worked on the production staff of the Welsh National Opera and Drama Company, and was a co-founder and director of the Cardiff Laboratory Theatre.
He went on to become Artistic Director of Doppelganger Theatre and of Handspan Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, and later served as Musical Director with MakeBelieve Arts on touring family shows including 'The Lorax', 'Gulliver's Travels' and 'The Woman Who Cooked Everything'. As an author, he wrote the best-selling 'A Thousand Paths' series of books, published by Sourcebooks from 2000, as well as 'Shakespeare at the Globe' (1998).
Legacy content on this page also claimed that Baird's grandfather was a president of the Welsh Amateur Boxing Association and that he was a nephew of the entertainer Tessie O'Shea, along with a claimed link to a Celtic Film Festival win with an Oscar-nominated collaborator and to the Cambridge Shakespeare Company. None of these specific claims could be independently verified from the sources checked, so they are noted here for completeness rather than repeated as established fact. What is verifiable is his genuine, sustained professional connection to Cardiff's theatre scene in the early part of his career.
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Composer, theatre director and author who built his early theatre career in Cardiff, co-founding the Cardiff Laboratory Theatre and working for the Welsh National Opera and Drama Company.
David Baird
Actor, Composer, Theatre Director and Author
Co-founder/director of the Cardiff Laboratory Theatre and staffed the Welsh National Opera and Drama Company
Baird's career has taken him from the Welsh theatre scene in Cardiff, where he helped found the Cardiff Laboratory Theatre, to Artistic Director roles at Doppelganger Theatre in the UK and Handspan Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. He later became known internationally as an author, with his 'A Thousand Paths' series of illustrated inspirational books reaching a wide readership, while continuing his work in music and theatre as Musical Director for MakeBelieve Arts.
Career Highlights
On the production staff of Welsh National Opera and Drama Company
Co-founder and director of the Cardiff Laboratory Theatre
Artistic Director of Doppelganger Theatre and Handspan Theatre, Melbourne
Musical Director with MakeBelieve Arts
Author of the best-selling 'A Thousand Paths' book series (from 2000) and 'Shakespeare at the Globe' (1998)
ℹ️ David was born in 1956, in Canada.
Co-founder/director of the Cardiff Laboratory Theatre and staffed the Welsh National Opera and Drama Company
From: oakfield
Baird is well known for his atmospheric music and soundtracks for theatre.