James Cougar Canfield

James Cougar Canfield is an NYC based playwright, actor, and director with an MFA in Acting from East 15 Acting School in London.

Canfield co-founded Tier5 Theatre Company in 2015, which has successfully produced multiple productions, two tours, and won several awards. Tier5’s first production, Ladies in Waiting: The Judgement of Henry VIII (written by and starring Canfield as the infamous Tudor monarch) has been performed across the United States and United Kingdom, having its regional theatre premiere with Southwest Shakespeare Company, and recently having a revival production due the sold-out and critical success of the first run. It also won the Fringe International Award at Hollywood Fringe 2017.

Canfield’s original play, The Christmas Carol: A Queer Fantasia, based on the Charles Dickens classic, received its Off-Off Broadway premiere at the Access Theater in NYC in 2019, directed by Canfield. It had sold out performances and was featured as a Must-See Holiday event by Local Adventurers, Metrosource, and Go magazine. It recently was produced as a reading by Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival in 2021. In 2020, the company had the regional theatre premiere of meg jo beth amy & louisa (a remix on Louisa May Alcott’s life and her novel, Little Women, co-written by Canfield) with Southwest Shakespeare Company, after completing a US tour through NYC, LA, and DC in 2019.

Most recently, due to the pandemic, Canfield has lead Tier5 in producing digital content, including a virtual concert series (Tier5 Sings!), an animated production of Romeo & Juliet, a new works festival (Fairytales From Home), and the upcoming animated productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Canfield’s other produced plays include: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Ostrich Boy, Conversations, World Collapsing (10x10 in the Triangle Finalist), Moirae, Hera’s Legacy (Alley Theatre’s Houston Young Playwright Exchange Selection), and Within These Walls (Texas Educators Theatre Assocations’ Playfest Award winner).

Directing: The Importance of Being Earnest (Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival), As You Like It (Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival, Viola Award nominee), Every Seven Minutes (The Navigators’ Lift-Off Play Series), The House of Bernarda Alba (STAGE), The Children’s Hour (Breakthrough Theatre of Winter Park, BroadwayWorld Orlando Best Director nominee), Twelve Angry Jurors (STAGE), Twelfth Night, or What You Will (Aside Productions), Anon(ymous) (Aside Productions), and A Piece of My Heart (Aside Productions).

Acting: Off Broadway: One Nation, One Mission, One Promise (Players Theater), NYC: Macbeth (Red Monkey Theatre Group), meg jo beth amy & louisa (Center at West Park & Dixon Place), Romeo & Juliet (Emit Theatre), The Polar Express (Event Energizers/Warner Bros.), Regional: Twelfth Night (Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival), Footlight Frenzy (Millbrook Playhouse), Henry IV, Part 1 (Southwest Shakespeare Company), And Then Were None (Judson Theatre Company), London: The Stars That Play With Laughing Sam’s Dice (Pentameters Theatre), Phaedra’s Love (Drayton Arms). TV/Film: Pandora’s Box: Unleashing Evil (ID Discovery), Mysteries at the Museum (Travel Channel), and Diabolical (ID Discovery).

Outside of theatre and film, Canfield achieved viral success by creating music videos to Broadway and pop classics through the video game, Animal Crossing. His hits include recreations of “The Schuyler Sisters” from Hamilton, “Oops! … I Did It Again” by Britney Spears, “I Put a Spell On You” from Hocus Pocus, and “Agatha All Along” from WandaVision. Canfield’s videos have been viewed over a million times across his social media platforms.

IG, Twitter, TikTok, & FB: @james_cougar