History
In the winter of 2001, MTC chose to honour Samuel Beckett at its first annual Master Playwright Festival. BeckettFest provided opportunities for both professional and emerging artists from a variety of organizations and independent companies to produce work under the umbrella of a larger festival. It also provided patrons with an opportunity to thoroughly immerse themselves in the work of a playwright who may not have a regular home on Winnipeg stages.
The inaugural event involved 15 Beckett works by 10 local companies in eight venues. Since then, MTC has presented BrechtFest (2002), PinterFest (2003), AlbeeFest (2004), TremblayFest (2005), O'NeillFest (2006), StoppardFest (2007), MametFest (2008), MillerFest (2009), ChurchillFest (2010)
This season, we look forward to celebrating the work of Swedish dramatist- August Strindberg.
Archives
Production History
The Master Playwright Festival has honoured playwrights whose innovation and creativity have influenced fellow artists and left a lasting impression on audiences. For more information on each festival, please click on a link below.
BeckettFest BrechtFest PinterFest AlbeeFest TremblayFest
O'NeillFest StoppardFest MametFest MillerFest
BeckettFest
January 11 – 27, 2001
"Birth was the death of him." - Samuel Beckett
The inaugural Master Playwright Festival was a resounding success with dozens of sell-out performances throughout the 17-day event. Significant tourism interest was generated with audience members visiting the festival from Toronto, Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Vancouver and the northern states. In addition to the plays and films featured at the festival, BeckettFest also showcased a free series of lectures and forums and a late-night open microphone series.
Companies 10
Total attendance 10,260
List of Productions
Adhere & Deny – Found and Lost
The Black Hole Theatre Company – Krapp’s Last Tape, Catastrophe, Breath
CBC Radio
Le Cercle Molière – Text for Nothing/Texte pour rien
The Cinematheque – Krapp’s Last Tape (Film)
The King’s Players – Endgame
MTC Warehouse – Waiting for Godot
The Royal Liechtenstein Theatre Company – Happy Days
Spatial Relations – Act Without Words I; Not I
Tara Players – All That Fall
UMFM Radio – Rough for Radio, Rough for Radio 2, Words and Music, Rockaby, All That Fall
The University of Winnipeg Department of Theatre & Drama – Play
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BrechtFest
January 10 – 26, 2002
"Don't tell me peace has broken out." - Bertolt Brecht
Building on the momentum generated by BeckettFest, the 2nd annual Master Playwright Festival featured an eclectic mix of professional companies and emerging artists in celebration of the life and work of German poet, playwright and theatrical reformer Bertolt Brecht. The rebroadcast of CBC’s IDEAS documentary allowed the festival to reach a broad and diverse audience.
Companies 18
Performances 150
Paid attendance 11,523
Radio and public forum audience 38,066
List of Productions
The Black Hole Theatre Company – The Caucasian Chalk Circle
Breakfast Productions – The Seven Deadly Sins
Brecht Und Kaffee – Brecht und Kaffee
CBC Radio One & Radio Two – IDEAS Documentary Rebroadcast: BRECHT
The Cinematheque – Bertolt Brecht: Rare Films (A Man’s A Man, Galileo, Kuhle Wamp or Who Owns the World?, Mother Courage and Her Children, Private Silent Films, The Brecht Films of Hans Syberberg, The Mother, The Mysteries of a Hairdresser’s Shop, The Threepenny Opera)
The Conspiracy Network – Baal
CRUMBS – CRUMBS does BRECHT
MTC Warehouse/Shakespeare in the Ruins – The Threepenny Opera
Sarasvàti Productions in collaboration with River’s Edge Theatre Company – Fire Visions: The Poetry of Bertolt Brecht
U of M School of Music Opera Workshop – Der Jasager
Tara Players – Señora Carrar’s Rifles
The King’s Players – The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
UMFM Radio – Baal and Saint Joan of the Stockyards
U of W Department of Theatre and Drama – Fear and Misery of the Third Reich
Westwood Collegiate – The Life of Galileo
Winnipeg Jewish Theatre – The Jewish Wife: A Creative Collection
Winnipeg Mennonite Theatre – Bertolt Brecht Brocken
The Winnipegger Ensemble – The Wedding
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PinterFest 2003
January 9 – 25, 2003
"I find critics on the whole a pretty unnecessary bunch of people. We don't need critics to tell the audiences what to think." - Harold Pinter
More than 19,000 theatre enthusiasts braved subarctic temperatures to experience Pinter in winter. Festival highlights included the participation of Dreamsurf Theatre who travelled from Britain, as well as performances by Harold Pinter’s long-time friend Henry Woolf.
Companies 15
Performances 130
Paid attendance 11,075
Lectures/radio plays 7,929
List of Productions
The Black Hole Theatre Company – The Hothouse
CBC Radio Two 98.3 FM – Arts Encounters: Landscape and Silence
The Cinematheque – Harold Pinter: Rare Films (The Homecoming, The Servant, The Go-Between, The Comfort of Strangers, The Pumpkin Eater)
The Conspiracy Network – Night School
Dancing Bear Productions & Theatre New West – Nine
Dreamsurf – The Lover
The King’s Players – The Dumb Waiter
MTC Warehouse – The Homecoming
New Theatre – The Birthday Party, Monologue
The Probable Cast – PinterProv
Sarasvàti Productions – One for the Road
Tara Players – The Caretaker
Toothsome Breed Theatre Company – Ashes to Ashes
University of Winnipeg Theatre Students’ Association – Celebration
Who Knows Productions – No Man’s Land
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AlbeeFest
January 22 – February 8, 2004
"The only time I'll get good reviews is if I kill myself." - Edward Albee
AlbeeFest offered a distinctly international flavour for festival audiences. In coordination with L’Alliance Française du Manitoba, Le Théâtre Alambic travelled from Montreal to present The Zoo Story in French and Le Théâtre Gyptis from Marseille, France staged Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. French-speaking audiences also enjoyed two productions by St. Boniface College’s theatre company Les Chiens de Soleil.
Companies 16
Performances 138
Paid attendance 10,384
Radio/public forums 7,863
Total attendance 18,247
List of Productions
The Adriana Theatre Collective – A Delicate Balance
L’Alliance Française du Manitoba et le Théâtre Alambic – The Zoo Story (French)
L’Alliance Française du Manitoba et le Théâtre Gyptis – Qui a peur de Virginia Woolf? (French)
The Black Hole Theatre Company – The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
CBC Radio Two 98.3 FM – Arts Encounters
The Cinematheque – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Film), A Delicate Balance (Film)
Les Chiens de Soleil – Le tas de sable, Le rêve de l’Amérique (French)
Dreamsurf – Seascape
The Hen Coöp – The American Dream
MTC Warehouse – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Moving Target Theatre Company – Counting the Ways
Tara Players – Marriage Play
Theatre on T.A.P. – The Sandbox
Toothsome Breed Theatre Company – The Zoo Story
University of Winnipeg Theatre Students’ Association – Box and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung
Westwood Collegiate – Malcolm
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TremblayFest
January 20 – February 6, 2005
" I know what I want in the theatre. I was a real political theatre, but I know that political theatre is dull.
I write fables." - Michel Tremblay
The 5th annual Master Playwright Festival celebrated a number of firsts. TremblayFest was the first festival ever dedicated to the life and work of Michel Tremblay. He was the first Canadian to be honoured as our master playwright. And it was the first time the master playwright attended the event, which provided a huge thrill for everyone involved.
Companies 16
Performances 134
Paid attendance 9,866
Lecture series 515
Total attendance 12,381
List of Productions
L’Alliance Française du Manitoba et Soluart – Surprise! Surprise! (French)
At Home Theatre Company – Johnny Mangano & His Astonishing Dogs
Avera Theatre – Stories for Late Night Drinkers
Black Hole Theatre Company – Marcel Pursued by the Hounds
Les Chiens de Soleil – Le train & Éloge de la gourmandise (French)
The Cinematheque – The Heart Laid Bare: Film adaptations of Michel Tremblay (Once Upon a Time in the East (Il était une fois dans l’est), Albertine in Five Times, It’s Your Turn, Laura)
Dreamscape, UK – Damnée Manon, Sacrée Sandra
The Hen Coöp – Albertine in Five Times
MTC Warehouse – Hosanna
Sarasvàti Productions – The Impromptu of Outremont
Tara Players – For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again
Theatre on T.A.P. – Surprise! Surprise!
Toothsome Breed Theatre Company – Forever Yours, Marie-Lou
101.5 UMFM – Berthe, Johnny Mangano & His Astonishing Dogs
University of Winnipeg Theatre Students’ Association – En pièces détachées
Winnipeg Mennonite Theatre – The Real World?
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O’NeillFest
January 19 – February 5, 2006
"Man's loneliness is but his fear of life." - Eugene O'Neill
For the first time, the festival offered a play reading to raise funds for The Actors’ Fund of Canada. The successful reading of The Iceman Cometh, featuring a dynamic cast, allowed for one of Eugene O’Neill’s most ambitious works to be part of the festival. This reading also led into the closing night festivities at the King’s Head Pub, which stood in for Harry Hope’s saloon.
Companies 14
Performances 127
Paid attendance 8,584
Lecture series 180
Total attendance 8,602
List of Productions
The Actors’ Fund of Canada – The Iceman Cometh (Reading)
Black Hole Theatre Company – Ah, Wilderness!
Bonded Bourbon Productions – A Moon for the Misbegotten
The Cinematheque – Eugene O’Neill: A Glory of Ghosts, The Iceman Cometh, Long Day’s Journey into Night (Films)The Hen Coöp/Seeking Productions – Here Before You – Eugene O’Neill
Lyndesfarne Productions – Hughie
MTC Warehouse – Long Day’s Journey into Night
Pi-sin-ian Revolver – A Touch of the Poet
Tara Players – The Rope
Theatre Anywhere – Welded
Theatre Incarnate – The Hairy Ape
University of Winnipeg Theatre Students’ Association – Desire Under the Elms
Westwood Collegiate – Diff’rnt
Winnipeg Experimental Theatre Works – Before the Fog of Thirst
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StoppardFest
January 18 – February 4, 2007
"Age is a very high price to pay for maturity." - Tom Stoppard
Inspired by the wit and wordplay of British playwright Tom Stoppard, the festival enjoyed strong attendance. Theatre Incarnate added a matinee to accommodate demand for their production of Arcadia. And the Black Hole Theatre Company’s production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead set an attendance record for the university’s theatre program. Another highlight of the festival included Westwood Collegiate’s free presentation of 15 Minute Hamlet in the MTC Warehouse lobby before three performances of The Real Thing.
Companies 12
Performances 93
Paid attendance 10,132
Lecture series 220
Total attendance 10,352
List of Productions
The Actors’ Fund of Canada – Indian Ink (Reading)
The Black Hole Theatre Company – Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
The Cinematheque – Brazil, Empire of the Sun, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Films)
Dancing Hen on a Tuba – After Magritte
Dimestore Watch Theatre Works – The Dog It Was That Died
MTC Warehouse – The Real Thing
Persnickety Players/Echo Theatre – Jumpers
Tara Players/Shoestring Players – Teeth, A Separate Peace
Theatre Incarnate – Arcadia
University of Winnipeg Theatre Students’ Association – Enter a Free Man
Westwood Collegiate – 15 Minute Hamlet
Winnipeg Mennonite Theatre – The Real Inspector Hound
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MametFest
January 17 – February 10, 2008
"I always thought the real violence in Hollywood isn't what's on the screen. It's what you have to do to raise money."
- David Mamet
The eighth annual Master Playwright Festival focused on the works of David Mamet, one of the grittiest, most dynamic and compelling playwrights of the 20th century. The ever popular lecture series welcomed Dr. Ira Nadel, a professor of English at the University of British Columbia. Author of David Mamet: A Life in the Theatre, the first biography of the award-winning author, Dr. Nadel shared his insight with festival audiences. This was Dr. Nadel’s second visit to the master playwright festival – he also participated in Stoppard Unbound.
Companies 14
Performances 131
Paid attendance 10,249
Lecture series 224
Total attendance 10,473
List of Productions
Academy Productions – The Frog Prince
The Actors’ Fund of Canada – The Cryptogram, Oleanna (Readings)
Black Hole Theatre Company – Romance
The Cinematheque – Lakeboat, Glengarry Glen Ross (Films)
Echo Theatre – The Poet and the Rent
Fancy Bred Theatre – The Duck Variations
The Incompletely Strangled Theatre Company – Squirrels, A Sermon
MTC Warehouse – Glengarry Glen Ross
Tara Players – The Shawl
Theatre Anywhere – Sexual Perversity in Chicago
Theatre Incarnate – Boston Marriage
Westwood Collegiate – The Blue Hour: City Sketches
WJT – Speed-the-Plow
Wooden Nickel Productions – American Buffalo
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MillerFest 2009
January 22 – February 8, 2009
“The theater is so endlessly fascinating because it's so accidental. It's so much like life.” - Arthur Miller
The highly anticipated MillerFest offered theatre and film enthusiasts the chance to experience the hard-hitting socio-political analogies and moving family dramas of the great American playwright Arthur Miller. On the strength of classics such as Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, along with well-received productions of lesser known works, MillerFest was the second-best attended Master Playwright Festival after BrechtFest.
Companies 12
Performances 103
Paid attendance 11,264
Lecture series 333
Total attendance 11,597
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