Manitoba Theatre Centre
Encyclopedia
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC) is Canada's oldest English-language regional theatre. Next to the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, MTC has a higher annual attendance than any other theatre in the country. It was founded in 1958 by John Hirsch
and Tom Hendry as an amalgamation of the Winnipeg Little Theatre and Theatre 77.
, a mid-winter festival honoring master playwrights and a regional tour. MTC's play list includes classical, contemporary, and musical productions by established and new, upcoming playwrights providing the Winnipeg community with quality and balance in MTC's programming.
Each season MTC provides, exclusively for student audiences, preview performances of plays that relate to the high school curriculum. Students travel not only from schools throughout Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba, but also from Northwestern Ontario, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Past student matinee productions have included Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Miracle Worker and Of Mice & Men.
MTC gives out scholarships to students attending post-secondary theatre programs full time, aspiring for a theatre career in Manitoba, as well as apprentice opportunities. The Jean Murray - Moray Sinclair Theatre Scholarship is funded purely from donations received during a run of a particular show each season. The Naomi Levin Theatre Scholarship was established in memory of Naomi Levin, a theatre technician associated with MTC for a number of years.
Each summer, MTC produces the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival, the second-largest Fringe festival in North America.
Manitoba Theatre Centre received Royal designation on October 26, 2010. The name is now Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
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John Hirsch
John Stephen Hirsch, OC was an Hungarian-Canadian theater director. He was born in Siófok, Hungary, and escaped Hungary during World War Two as a refugee orphan...
and Tom Hendry as an amalgamation of the Winnipeg Little Theatre and Theatre 77.
History
The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre operates two theatre venues in the heart of greater Winnipeg, Manitoba. Each year MTC produces six Mainstage productions, four second stage or MTC Warehouse Theatre Productions, an annual 12-day Winnipeg Fringe Theatre FestivalWinnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival
The Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival is an annual alternative theatre festival held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is the currently the second-largest North American festival of its kind, and since 2003, has been the longest at twelve days , and it is common for a small number of shows to be held over...
, a mid-winter festival honoring master playwrights and a regional tour. MTC's play list includes classical, contemporary, and musical productions by established and new, upcoming playwrights providing the Winnipeg community with quality and balance in MTC's programming.
Each season MTC provides, exclusively for student audiences, preview performances of plays that relate to the high school curriculum. Students travel not only from schools throughout Winnipeg and the province of Manitoba, but also from Northwestern Ontario, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Past student matinee productions have included Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Miracle Worker and Of Mice & Men.
MTC gives out scholarships to students attending post-secondary theatre programs full time, aspiring for a theatre career in Manitoba, as well as apprentice opportunities. The Jean Murray - Moray Sinclair Theatre Scholarship is funded purely from donations received during a run of a particular show each season. The Naomi Levin Theatre Scholarship was established in memory of Naomi Levin, a theatre technician associated with MTC for a number of years.
Each summer, MTC produces the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival, the second-largest Fringe festival in North America.
Manitoba Theatre Centre received Royal designation on October 26, 2010. The name is now Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
Architecture
The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre was designed in the Brutalist style by Winnipeg's Number Ten Architectural Group with input from artistic director Eddie Gilbert. With its exposed concrete sculptural form, an informal interior theatre space and a foyer originally conceived to balance large gatherings and smaller intimate groups in the same space, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre is one of Canada's most important small-scale Brutalist designs.Artistic Directors
- John HirschJohn HirschJohn Stephen Hirsch, OC was an Hungarian-Canadian theater director. He was born in Siófok, Hungary, and escaped Hungary during World War Two as a refugee orphan...
(1958-1966) - Edward Gilbert (1966-1969)
- Kurt Reis (1969-1970)
- Keith Turnbull (1970-1972)
- Edward Gilbert (1972-1975)
- Len CariouLen CariouLeonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
(1975-1976) - Arif Hasnain (1977-1980)
- Richard OuzounianRichard OuzounianRichard Ouzounian is a Canadian journalist and theatre artist. He is currently the chief theatre critic for the Toronto Star and the Canadian theatre correspondent for Variety.-Life and career:...
(1980-1984) - James Roy (1984-1986)
- Rick McNairRick McNairRick McNair , was a playwright, author, director, actor, storyteller, librettist, bibliophile, basketball player and coach. He was the former Director of Theatre Calgary and the Manitoba Theatre Centre and the founder of the Winnipeg Fringe Festival...
(1986-1989) - Steven Schipper (1989-present)
2010-2011 season
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play)One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a play based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel of the same name. Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation, with music by Teiji Ito, made its Broadway preview on November 12, 1963, its premiere on November 13, and ran until January 25, 1964 for a total of one preview and 82...
- by Dale WassermanDale WassermanDale Wasserman was an American playwright. -Early life:Dale Wasserman was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and was orphaned at the age of nine. He lived in a state orphanage and with an older brother in South Dakota before he "hit the rails". He later said:-Career:Wasserman worked in various...
| Based on the Novel by Ken KeseyKen KeseyKenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a... - Irving BerlinIrving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
's White Christmas The MusicalWhite Christmas (musical)White Christmas is a musical based on the Paramount Pictures 1954 film of the same name. The libretto is by David Ives and Paul Blake, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin...
- Music and Lyrics by Irving BerlinIrving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
| Book by David IvesDavid IvesDavid Ives is a contemporary American playwright. A native of South Chicago, Ives attended a minor Catholic seminary and Northwestern University and, after some years' interval, Yale School of Drama, where he received an MFA in playwriting...
and Paul Blake - Noël CowardNoël CowardSir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Brief EncounterBrief EncounterBrief Encounter is a 1945 British film directed by David Lean about the conventions of British suburban life, centring on a housewife for whom real love brings unexpectedly violent emotions. The film stars Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey...
- Adapted by Emma Rice - The Shunning - by Patrick FriesenPatrick FriesenPatrick Frank Friesen is a Canadian author. He has written many works, from poetry to stage plays. He began his works in 1970, writing books of poetry. This Canadian poet, who was born in Steinbach, Manitoba, studied at the University of Manitoba. While there, he received a Bachelor of Arts ...
- Calendar GirlsCalendar Girls (play)Calendar Girls is a stage play based on the film of the same nameAfter a successful tryout at the Chichester Festival Theatre and a lengthy national tour, a stage adaptation of the film started previewing in April 2009 at the Noel Coward Theatre in the West End. The cast included Lynda Bellingham,...
- by Tim FirthTim FirthTim Firth is an English dramatist, screenwriter and songwriter.Tim Firth was born, and has lived all his life in, the North West of England on the border of Cheshire and Lancashire... - The 39 StepsThe 39 Steps (play)The 39 Steps is a farce adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. Patrick Barlow wrote the adaptation, based on the original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon of a two-actor version of the play...
- Adapted by Patrick BarlowPatrick BarlowPatrick Barlow is an English actor, comedian and playwright. His comedic alter ego, Desmond Olivier Dingle, is the founder, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the two-man National Theatre of Brent, which has performed on stage, on television and on radio.-Radio:Barlow is the scriptwriter, as...
| From the Novel by John Buchan | From the Film of Alfred HitchcockAlfred HitchcockSir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood... - Juno Productions' Jake's Gift - Written and Performed by Julia Mackey
- The SeafarerThe Seafarer (play)The Seafarer is a 2006 play by Irish playwright Conor McPherson. It is set on Christmas Eve in Baldoyle, a coastal suburb north of Dublin city. The play centers on James "Sharkey" Harkin, an alcoholic who has recently returned to live with his blind, aging brother, Richard Harkin...
- by Conor McPhersonConor McPhersonConor McPherson is an Irish playwright and director.-Life and career:McPherson was born in Dublin, . He was educated at University College Dublin, McPherson began writing his first plays there as a member of UCD Dramsoc, the college's dramatic society, and went on to found Fly By Night Theatre... - After Miss JulieAfter Miss JulieAfter Miss Julie is a play which relocates August Strindberg's naturalist tragedy, Miss Julie , to an English country house in July 1945...
- A Version of StrindbergStrindbergStrindberg may refer to:People* August Strindberg , Swedish dramatist and painter* Nils Strindberg , Swedish photographer* Anita Strindberg , Swedish actor* Henrik Strindberg , Swedish composerOther...
's Miss JulieMiss JulieMiss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...
| by Patrick MarberPatrick MarberPatrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter.-Early life and education:... - Bent Out of Shape Productions' The Drowning Girls - by Daniela Vlaskalic, Beth Graham & Charlie Tomlinson
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