Hope McIntyre explained

Hope McIntyre
Nationality:	Canadian
Education:	University of Saskatchewan (BFA) University of Victoria (MFA)
Known For:	Founder of Sarasvati Productions

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.

Early life and education

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.

Career

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

McIntyre founded Sarasvati Productions in Toronto in 1998 but moved the theatre company to Winnipeg in 2000. 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

• Hunger (1998)^[10]
• Trauma (1999)^[11]
• Revisionings (1999)
• Missiah (2000)
• Death of Love (2001)
• Ripple Effect (2008)^[12]
• Eden (2012)^[13]
• Empty (2012)^[14]
• Immigration Stories (2012) - written by McIntyre with the Immigrant Women's Association of Manitoba
• 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

!Year!Award!Category!Result!Ref.

2006	YWCA/YMCA Winnipeg Women of Distinction	Arts and Culture		^[19]
2007	Playwrights Guild of Canada Bra D'Or Awards	N/A		^[20] ^[21]

Notes and References

1. News: Rollason. Kevin. August 27, 2016. Theatre with a social conscience. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
2. Web site: Babcock. Tim. June 18, 2019. UWinnipeg theatre and film has 'Hope'. October 9, 2020. University of Winnipeg News Centre. en.
3. Dempsey. Shawna. 2015. Staging Feminist Theatre. Herizons. 29. 1. 24–29. 0711-7485.
4. 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. News: January 24, 2002. Brecht poems pound home message. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
6. News: Prokosh. Kevin. January 28, 2010. Don't forget the tickets ...and the antidepressants. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
7. News: Prokosh. Kevin. February 2, 2010. Women's power a burning issue. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
8. News: Prokosh. Kevin. May 22, 2014. Local production of feminist classic being staged in historic West Gate home. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
9. Web site: September 9, 2020. FemFest Restarts In-Person Theatre for Sarasvati Productions. October 9, 2020. ChrisD.ca. en-CA.
10. Book: McIntyre, Hope. West-words: Celebrating Western Canadian Theatre and Playwriting. University of Regina Press. 2011. 9780889772359. Day. Moira Jean. 29. Producing New Work in Winnipeg.
11. Web site: Hobson. Louis B.. 2020-11-11. DIY Theatre looks at grief. 2020-12-04. Calgary Herald. en-CA.
12. Book: McIntyre, Hope. West-words: Celebrating Western Canadian Theatre and Playwriting. University of Regina Press. 2011. 9780889772359. Day. Moira Jean. 30. Producing New Work in Winnipeg.
13. News: Prokosh. Kevin. April 26, 2012. Intolerance rather than apples inhabits Hope McIntyre's Eden. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
14. News: August 22, 2012. FemFest play examines poverty, features Sylvia Kuzyk. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
15. News: Preprost. Matt. May 14, 2013. Jail Baby an emotional roller-coaster for actor. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
16. News: Thompson. Jordan. September 4, 2013. Shining a light on life in foster care. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
17. News: Zoratti. Jen. June 12, 2014. Girls just wanna... fit in. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. October 9, 2020.
18. News: Schmidt. Joff. May 25, 2017. New made-in-Manitoba play breaks through silence on mental health. en-US. CBC News. October 9, 2020.
19. Web site: March 29, 2014. Women of Distinction 2006. October 9, 2020. YMCA-YWCA of Winnipeg. en-US.
20. Web site: MacArthur. Michelle. 2015. Achieving Equity in Canadian Theatre: A Report with Best Practice Recommendations. October 9, 2020. Equity in Theatre.
21. Web site: Bra D'Or Award Past Recipients. October 9, 2020. Playwrights Guild of Canada.