Hope McIntyre is a Canadian playwright, theatre creator, and professor. She was the founding artistic director of Sarasvati Productions and served as the company's artistic director until 2020.

Hope McIntyre
NationalityCanadian
Education
Known forFounder of Sarasvati Productions

Early life and education edit

McIntyre was born and raised in Saskatchewan.[1]

McIntyre obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Saskatchewan and, later, a Masters of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of Victoria.[2] She proposed directing María Irene Fronés' Fefu and Her Friends as part of her MFA thesis project but was told by male faculty advisors that the play's feminism was dated and that it would be too difficult to cast given the large number of female actors required.[3] McIntyre later trained at ARTTS International.[1]

Career edit

McIntyre worked at Rare Gem Productions, an international commercial theatre producer, in Toronto in the late nineties.[1]

McIntyre founded Sarasvati Productions in Toronto in 1998 but moved the theatre company to Winnipeg in 2000.[1] McIntyre founded Sarasvati's FemFest in 2003 expressly to amplify female voices.[4] While working at Sarasvati, McIntyre directed several shows including Fire Visions: The Poetry of Bertolt Brecht (2002),[5] Fen (2010),[6] Vinegar Tom (2010),[7] and Fefu and Her Friends (2014).[8] As well, during her time with Sarasvati, McIntyre saw many of her own plays performed by the company. In 2020, Sarasvati announced that McIntyre would be retiring from her position as artistic director to focus on her position as an assistant professor at the University of Winnipeg. McIntyre was succeeded by Frances Koncan.[9]

Plays edit

  • Hunger (1998)[10]
  • Trauma (1999)[11]
  • Revisionings (1999)[10]
  • Missiah (2000)[10]
  • Death of Love (2001)[10]
  • Ripple Effect (2008)[12]
  • Eden (2012)[13]
  • Empty (2012)[14]
  • Immigration Stories (2012) - written by McIntyre with the Immigrant Women's Association of Manitoba[4]
  • Jail Baby (2013) - co-written by McIntyre and Cairn Moore with Nan Fewchuk and Marsha Knight[15]
  • Giving Voice (2014) - co-created with youth in foster care[16]
  • Erica in Technoland (2014)[17]
  • Breaking Through (2017) - co-written by McIntyre and Cairn Moore[18]

Awards edit

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2006 YWCA/YMCA Winnipeg Women of Distinction Arts and Culture Won [19][2]
2007 Playwrights Guild of Canada Bra D'Or Awards N/A Won [20][21]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Rollason, Kevin (August 27, 2016). "Theatre with a social conscience". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Babcock, Tim (June 18, 2019). "UWinnipeg theatre and film has 'Hope'". University of Winnipeg News Centre. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  3. ^ Dempsey, Shawna (2015). "Staging Feminist Theatre". Herizons. Vol. 29, no. 1. pp. 24–29. ISSN 0711-7485.
  4. ^ a b Scott, Shelley (2014). "Women's Theatre Festivals as Counterpublics: Groundswell, FemFest, and The Riveter Series". Theatre Research in Canada / Recherches théâtrales Au Canada. 35 (1).
  5. ^ "Brecht poems pound home message". Winnipeg Free Press. January 24, 2002. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  6. ^ Prokosh, Kevin (January 28, 2010). "Don't forget the tickets ...and the antidepressants". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  7. ^ Prokosh, Kevin (February 2, 2010). "Women's power a burning issue". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  8. ^ Prokosh, Kevin (May 22, 2014). "Local production of feminist classic being staged in historic West Gate home". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  9. ^ "FemFest Restarts In-Person Theatre for Sarasvati Productions". ChrisD.ca. September 9, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d McIntyre, Hope (2011). "Producing New Work in Winnipeg". In Day, Moira Jean (ed.). West-words: Celebrating Western Canadian Theatre and Playwriting. University of Regina Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780889772359.
  11. ^ Hobson, Louis B. (2020-11-11). "DIY Theatre looks at grief". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  12. ^ McIntyre, Hope (2011). "Producing New Work in Winnipeg". In Day, Moira Jean (ed.). West-words: Celebrating Western Canadian Theatre and Playwriting. University of Regina Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780889772359.
  13. ^ Prokosh, Kevin (April 26, 2012). "Intolerance rather than apples inhabits Hope McIntyre's Eden". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  14. ^ "FemFest play examines poverty, features Sylvia Kuzyk". Winnipeg Free Press. August 22, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  15. ^ Preprost, Matt (May 14, 2013). "Jail Baby an emotional roller-coaster for actor". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  16. ^ Thompson, Jordan (September 4, 2013). "Shining a light on life in foster care". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  17. ^ Zoratti, Jen (June 12, 2014). "Girls just wanna... fit in". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  18. ^ Schmidt, Joff (May 25, 2017). "New made-in-Manitoba play breaks through silence on mental health". CBC News. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  19. ^ "Women of Distinction 2006". YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg. March 29, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  20. ^ MacArthur, Michelle (2015). "Achieving Equity in Canadian Theatre: A Report with Best Practice Recommendations" (PDF). Equity in Theatre. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  21. ^ "Bra D'Or Award Past Recipients". Playwrights Guild of Canada. Retrieved October 9, 2020.