Diamond grew up in
Winnipeg,
Manitoba and received his BFA in acting from the
University of Alberta in 1975, and immediately began working as an actor in professional theatre, radio, TV and film. He moved to Vancouver in 1976. Diamond, along with
documentary film maker
Nettie Wild, was a founding member of the Vancouver Artists' Alliance. It was through this organization that he was introduced to the first members of Headlines Theatre. Headlines Theatre began by making
agitprop theatre, starting with their first production
Buy, Buy Vancouver in 1981, inspired by the rental housing crisis that was just starting in Vancouver. Diamond is credited with writing many of the non-Forum Theatre works produced by Headlines Theatre over the years including
The Enemy Within (1986),
No’ Xya (Our Footprints) (1987),
Mamu (with Kevin Finnan) (1994). and
Thirsty (with Kathryn Ricketts) (2002). Also,
The Dying Game (1998), which was Forum Theatre. Diamond's theatrical practice, and the direction of Headlines' work, shifted after he was introduced to
Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) by Brazilian Theatre artist
Augusto Boal at TO skills sharing workshop in Paris in 1984. After producing
The Enemy Within (1986) Diamond began to move the company's community work away from its roots making agitprop work in favor of what he calls a Power Play structure. Power Plays are created by invitation, deep 'in community' and utilize the tools of TO practice to build a play over a 6-day workshop. After exploring TO techniques and the creation of Power Plays for many years in the late 80s/early 90s, Diamond began to redefine the language of his work, as a response to requests to do so from communities with which he was working, creating what is now defined as Theatre for Living. Diamond is also credited with directing almost all of the theatre company's mainstage projects, having developed a creation process that involves a week long "power play" followed by three to four weeks of creation and rehearsals with a cast and professional production team. Diamond created Theatre for Living (TfL) through a merging of Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, his own theatre experience and his lifelong interest in
systems theory. "Theatre for Living approaches the community as a living organism and recognizes... when plays are created, they are made to help us investigate ways to change the behaviors that create the structure, not only the structure itself." He also facilitates TfL workshops around the world and pioneered the development of live, interactive Forum television and web casting. In 2010, Diamond traveled with the
Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean as a Canadian Delegate in Africa. As of 2022, he has directed over 600 community-specific projects on issues such as racism, civic engagement, Indigenous land claims, violence, addiction, street youth, inter-generational conflict, homelessness, climate change, corporate messaging, reclaiming hope from a culture of fear, and reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in Canada, to name just some. Since 'devolving' the theatre company in 2018, he continues to offer Theatre for Living training workshops and to respond to project and speaking requests from around the world, as well as offering mentoring to interested individuals. == Awards ==