Ruth Howard is a Canadian artist who creates large-scale arts and theatre projects with urban communities[1] and has been called "a key figure in the Canadian Community Play movement".[2] She is currently the Artistic Director of Jumblies Theatre, a company she founded in 2001.
Ruth Howard was born in Durham England on April 29, 1957, to mother Antonie Howard (née Eber) and father Ian P. Howard, a renowned researcher in visual perception. She has younger twin brothers, Neil and Martin. In 1966, the family moved to Manhattan for a year and then to Toronto, Canada, which has remained Ruth's home-base ever since, although she has also lived and worked in many other places. She currently lives on Wards Island with her partner of many years, Stephen Cooper. They have three children: Shifra, Helah and Eli.
Ruth studied at the Eastbourne College of Art and Design, at the University of Toronto where she obtained a BA Honours in English Literature and Drama, and at the National Theatre School of Canada (Design Program).
Ruth worked for many years as a theatre designer, at professional theatres across Canada, as well as with various forms of popular and participatory arts and theatre.
In 1991, Ruth was invited by Dale Hamilton to be a designer for the Spirit of Shivaree in Rockwood, Ontario, a project inspired by the British work of the Colway Theatre Trust with director Jon Oram. This introduction to the community play form, which combines high-calibre art making on an epic scale with a practice of wholehearted social inclusion and an astonishing capacity for social change, has inspired the course and nature of her work ever since.
Ruth went on to design community plays in Canada and the U.K. - in Blyth, Ontario; Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan; Enderby, British Columbia; Torquay, England and Manchester, England - and to create interdisciplinary projects that adapted the form to reflect her evolving artistic interests and urban realities. She produced and create her own theatre events: initially in school communities, and growing in size and complexity. In 2000, she produced a multi-lingual performance piece in South Riverdale’s Twisted Metal and Mermaids Tears, the success of which prompted her to found Jumblies Theatre in 2001.
Ruth founded Jumblies Theatre in 2001 to support what had evolved as an approach of establishing multi-year residencies in urban neighbourhoods leading to large-scale, participatory, performance works and lasting local legacies. These pieces were adapted from and retained many of the guiding principles of the Community Play model.
Jumblies has since undertaken residencies in a series of communities, leading to highly acclaimed productions, including "Once A Shoreline"in Davenport West (2004); "Bridge of One Hair" in Central Etobicoke (2007); "Oy Di Velt Vet Vern Yinger (Oh the world will grow younger)" at Camp Naivelt (2008) and the Mayworks Festival (2009); "Like An Old Tale", a Scarborough telling of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale (2011).
Ruth has also mentored and supported many artists, projects and organizations. Jumblies' residencies resulted in a series of independent "Offshoot" organizations: Arts4All in Davenport West, MABELLEarts in Etobicoke, the Community Arts Guild in Scarborough, and an "adopted" Offshoot: Making Room in Parkdale. Other thriving community arts organizations outside of Toronto mentored by Ruth include Aanmitaagzi, Thinking Rock and OV-CAOS. In 2016, Ruth initiated into the Jumblies Studio, a strand of the company dedicated to learning and mentorship in community-engaged arts, including workshops, courses, internships, mentorship, resources and special projects and partnerships.
In 2014, Jumblies moved to a downtown Toronto Location (The Ground Floor). From here, Ruth and Jumblies undertook a multi-year exploration of Toronto's layered, Indigenous and colonial histories, leading to the 2017 "Touching Ground Festival" of new works, two national tours ("Train of Thought" and "Four Lands"), and "Talking Treaties", a project led by Associate Artistic Director, Ange Loft, including a spectacular performance at Toronto's Historic Fort York (2017 and 2018), and an interactive installation at the Inaugural Toronto Biennial of Art (2019). Ruth and Jumblies have also produced two Canadian Tours: Train of Thought (2015) and Four Lands (2016 to 18).
Ruth has created and produced many other projects with and outside of Jumblies Theatre, including: