Kelly Thornton (director) explained

Kelly Thornton
Birth Place:Brockville, Ontario
Nationality:Canadian
Alma Mater:University of Guelph
Occupation:Director
Years Active:1994-present

Kelly Thornton is a Canadian theatre director and dramaturge. She has served as artistic director of Nightwood Theatre and is the current artistic director of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Thornton was the co-head of Equity in Canadian Theatre: the Women’s Initiative.

Early life

Thornton was born in Brockville, Ontario in 1965 and was the youngest of four children.[1] At age nine, she moved with her family to Melbourne, Australia, but returned to Canada six years later.[2]

Thornton began university at the University of Western Ontario, where she considered studying psychology before changing her focus to English and philosophy. Thornton transferred University of Guelph where she double-majored in theatre and English. She graduated in 1994.[3]

Career

In 1998, Thornton directed This Hotel starring her then husband, Alex Poch-Goldin. She directed This Hotel again in 2001 with Theatre Passe Muraille at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Thornton was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her direction of the 2001 production.[4]

In April 2000, Thornton became the artistic director of the Rhubarb! Festival in Toronto. She held this position for the 2000 and 2001 festivals.[5]

Thornton was appointed artistic director of Nightwood Theatre in 2001.[6] One of her first productions with the company was Djanet Sears' The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God. Adventures of a Black Girl was performed in 2001 with a budget Thornton has described as being larger than the entire seasonal operations budget of Nightwood at the time.[7]

Thornton was heavily involved in launching Equity in Canadian Theatre: the Women’s Initiative with the Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres. Equity in Canadian Theatre focussed on addressing the gender imbalance in leadership positions in Canadian theatre.[8] Thornton served as co-head of the initiative.[9]

While Thornton was Nightwood's artistic director, she directed several productions including Véronique Olmi's Mathilde (2006, translated by Morwyn Brebne),[10] Polly Stenham's That Face (2009),[11] Jennifer Tremblay's The List (2010),[12] Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad (2012),[13] Anupama Chandrasekhar's Free Outgoing (2014),[14] and Mary Vingoe's Refuge (2016).[15]

In 2019, Thornton left Nightwood to become the artistic director of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Thornton is the first female artistic director of the RMTC. In the fall of 2019, Thornton directed Kat Sandler's play Bang Bang with RMTC, marking her Winnipeg directorial debut.[16] As part of her tenure as artistic director, Thornton created RMTC's Bridge Festival. The Bridge was created to supplant the RMTC's Master Playwright Festival and was supposed to launch in 2020. However, due to COVID-19, the Bridge launched in 2021 with the theme Art and (re)Conciliation.[17]

Thornton's inaugural season (2020/21) as artistic director was set to include the Canadian premiere of Network and a production of The Sound of Music, the latter of which she was to direct.[18] In June 2020, Thornton announced a "reimagined season", which included cancellations of Network and The Sound of Music, due to COVID-19 restrictions.[19] [20] Thornton directed Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Orlando in late 2021 as the RMTC's first in-person production in the pandemic.[21]

Personal life

Thornton was previously married to actor Alex Poch-Goldin. The two have a daughter named Chloe.[22] Thornton is currently married to Josep Seras.

Awards

!Year!Award!Category!Work!Result!Notes!Ref.
1997Alumnae Theatre Director’s Award (University of Toronto)The Visit[23]
2002Dora Mavor Moore AwardsOutstanding Direction of a Play/MusicalThis Hotel[24]
2003Pauline McGibbon AwardDirectorN/A[25]
2004Harold AwardsHouse of Don McKellarN/A[26] [27]
2008Toronto YWCA Women of DistinctionArts and LettersN/A[28]
2010Siminovitch PrizeDirector
2012Dora Mavor Moore AwardsOutstanding Direction of a Play/MusicalThe Penelopiad[29]

References

  1. Web site: Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia - Thornton, Kelly. Scott. Shelley. www.canadiantheatre.com. May 18, 2020.
  2. News: King. Randall. October 3, 2018. Oct 2018: Royal MTC hires first female artistic director. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. May 18, 2020.
  3. Web site: Women of the Northern Stage: Gender, Nationality and Identity and the Work of Canadian Women Stage Directors. Rollie. Emily A.. 2013. University of Missouri. 175-176. May 19, 2020.
  4. Web site: Women of the Northern Stage: Gender, Nationality and Identity and the Work of Canadian Women Stage Directors. Rollie. Emily A.. 2013. University of Missouri. 182. May 19, 2020.
  5. Web site: Women of the Northern Stage: Gender, Nationality and Identity and the Work of Canadian Women Stage Directors. Rollie. Emily A.. 2013. University of Missouri. 181. May 19, 2020.
  6. Web site: ‘There is so much culture here’: Incoming Royal MTC director making history. Pfeifer. Sharon. October 6, 2018. Global News. en. May 18, 2020.
  7. News: October 3, 2018. Kelly Thornton hopes to bring more diversity to Royal MTC as 1st new artistic director in 30 years. CBC News. May 18, 2020.
  8. Web site: Nightwood Theatre bids a fond farewell to Artistic Director Kelly Thornton. October 3, 2018. www.nightwoodtheatre.net. May 18, 2020.
  9. Web site: Women making and attending theatre up. Women in charge of theatre still down.. Schwietz. Lindsay. December 18, 2009. Praxis Theatre. May 19, 2020.
  10. News: Scott. Alec. 2006. Theatre. 40. 111. Toronto Life. 5. 00494194. Proquest.
  11. News: Nestruck. J. Kelly. October 31, 2009. Close to overdosing on sensationalism. R10. The Globe and Mail. 03190714. Proquest.
  12. News: Nestruck. J. Kelly. October 16, 2010. Performed live in Toronto. R18. The Globe and Mail. 03190714. Proquest.
  13. News: Nestruck. J. Kelly. January 14, 2012. Fine female cast makes for magical myth. R9. The Globe and Mail. 03190714. Proquest.
  14. News: Crew. Rober. February 2, 2014. Viral video tale turns soaplike. E2. Toronto Star. 03190781.
  15. News: Maga. Carly. April 24, 2016. An important and timely story, but something is missing. E4. Toronto Star. 03190781. Proquest.
  16. News: Koncan. Frances. October 1, 2019. Royal MTC artistic director Kelly Thornton on her new job and directing debut. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. May 18, 2020.
  17. News: King. Randall. 2021-03-12. Theatre fest brings together thinkers, doers, innovators. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. 2021-03-13.
  18. News: Thompson. Sam. February 3, 2020. Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre releases ‘thrilling’ 2020-21 playbill. Global News. May 18, 2020.
  19. News: 2020-06-27. RMTC plans 'reimagined season' for January: artistic director. CBC. 2020-08-14.
  20. News: King. Randall. 2020-06-26. RMTC hoping shows can go on in January after scrapping fall slate owing to pandemic. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. 2020-08-15.
  21. News: King. Randall. 2021-05-14. Daring RMTC season proceeds with caution. en-CA. Winnipeg Free Press. 2021-11-17.
  22. News: Ouzounian. Richard. August 8, 2013. SummerWorks' really big show: Alex Poch-Goldin's 'haunting' story has been 12 years in making. E1. Toronto Star. 03190781. Proquest.
  23. Web site: Women of the Northern Stage: Gender, Nationality and Identity and the Work of Canadian Women Stage Directors. Rollie. Emily A.. 2013. University of Missouri. 177. May 19, 2020.
  24. Web site: Women of the Northern Stage: Gender, Nationality and Identity and the Work of Canadian Women Stage Directors. Rollie. Emily A.. 2013. University of Missouri. 165. May 19, 2020.
  25. Web site: Pauline McGibbon Award Laureates. Ontario Arts Council. May 18, 2020.
  26. Web site: Tonight: The 2013 Harold Awards. Stein. Lauren. May 13, 2013. Mooney on Theatre. en-US. May 19, 2020.
  27. Web site: Harold Awards. haroldawards.com. en-US. May 19, 2020.
  28. Web site: Kaplan . Jon . Jon Kaplan (theatre critic) . Sumi . Glenn . May 29, 2008 . Scenes . May 18, 2020 . NOW Magazine . en-us.
  29. News: June 5, 2012. 'Crash,' 'The Penelopiad' each nab six nominations for Dora Mavor Moore Awards: 'Crash,' 'The Penelopiad' nab 6 Dora noms. The Canadian Press. Proquest.