10 Questions - Fall 2010

10 Questions with locally-based playwright, artistic director of Sarasvati Productions and FemFest founder Hope McIntyre.

1 - How did you first get involved in the theatre industry?

I started performing and writing at a very early age. I’m the cliché child who would stage shows in her basement. It all lead to doing an acting degree, a master's in directing, a performance apprenticeship in England and then coming back to work with other producers before establishing my own theatre company.

2 - What motivated you to found FemFest?

I founded the festival with the support of the board of directors at Sarasvàti Productions after having worked with women playwrights across Canada through the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Straw polls showed that women’s participation in professional theatre was low, so we were working on a new national study, but in the meantime I wanted to actively do something to provide opportunities to women, and FemFest was born.

3 - What is your role as artistic director? 

Running an independent theatre company means that my role is quite wideranging, from administration to staff management. My main job, though, is to create and realize a strong artistic vision for the company. This includes selecting programming, directing productions and working with the community to realize our goals.

4 - Other than your work with FemFest, what are some of your recent projects?

This last year was a busy one since Winnipeg’s Master Playwright Festival was dedicated to one of my idols, Caryl Churchill. As a result, I directed two shows simultaneously in order to take advantage of this rare opportunity. I worked on Fen for Sarasvàti Productions and Vinegar Tom with third-year honours students at the University of Winnipeg. I am also always trying to continue writing and in the spring took an inspiring master-class with another one of my idols, American playwright Paula Vogel.

5 - What is your favourite part of being a part of the local theatre industry?

It is definitely the people that I am privileged to work with, both colleagues and emerging artists who are passionate about their work despite all the challenges artists face.

6 - What is the biggest challenge?

Funding is always the biggest challenge working as an artist.

7 - The most inspiring production you’ve ever worked on? 

There has been a lot of really rewarding work, but I always think back to when I premiered my play Hunger in Toronto. We had a refugee from Guatemala speak afterwards, since the play dealt with a woman fighting for her husband who had been ‘disappeared’ in Guatemala. This guest speaker broke down as she tried to tell her story and I immediately felt guilty for having put her in the position of reliving her trauma through viewing the play and then being asked to share her experience. She told me afterwards that this was a necessary way for her to purge herself of her past, and it became clear to me that in fact the play was an important catharsis. I carry that memory as a reminder of why I do the type of theatre that I do.

8 - What makes Winnipeg’s theatre scene so unique?

The community is incredibly supportive. It has a small town feel yet it is very active. For me, it has been the perfect balance of opportunities without it being commercially competitive, as I have found in larger markets.

9 - Any advice for aspiring female playwrights?

Keep writing and don’t be shy about promoting yourself and your work.

10 - What’s next for you?

I am working with four other artists on a theatre-based project with women in the justice system. It is a partnership with the Elizabeth Fry Society of Manitoba, which will include sessions with women in the Winnipeg Remand Centre and the Portage La Prairie Correctional Centre. The goal is to provide the women with a creative outlet and to create a theatrical piece based on their experiences.