For Immediate Release – May 21, 2019
Three Sisters opens Canadian premiere of Jessica Swale’s Nell Gwynn

Three Sisters is celebrating its fifth birthday with plays about women, activism, and theatre. Following up on the critically acclaimed The Revolutionists this past February, Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale opens May 30 at The Gladstone Theatre.
“They’ve disgraced our trade. Ruined our art. They’ve put a woman on the stage!”

A smash hit that premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in London in 2013, this is the Canadian premiere of Nell Gwynn. It was nominated for numerous awards, and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2016. This new production also offers original music, played and sung by an immensely talented cast of 10 of Ottawa’s best local performers.
It is 1660. The Puritans have run away with their drab grey tails between their legs. Charles II has exploded onto the scene with a love of all things loud, French and sexy. And at Drury Lane, a young Nell Gwynn is selling oranges for sixpence. Little does she know who’s watching… Nell Gwynn charts the rise of an unlikely heroine, from her roots in Coal Yard Alley to her success as Britain’s most celebrated actress, and her hard-won place in the heart of the king. But at a time when women are second-class citizens, can her charm and spirit protect her from the dangers of the court? And at what cost?

“With women’s stories and activism around women’s rights constantly in the news, this show is not only wildly entertaining but incredibly relevant,” says Robin Guy, Artistic Director for Three Sisters. “Nell was a groundbreaker – a woman well ahead of her time, ready to leap into something that had never been done before – at least, not legally. This play has got it all – adventure, high romance, and a dirty song or two – everything you want in theatre, all rolled into a wildly funny and deeply touching story. You can’t help but love Nell and the people in her world, even while you question their motivations and actions. You laugh and cry through the story with them.”

Nell Gwynn is directed by Eleanor Crowder, a local director with special interest in feminist theatre with credits including Mama’s Boy and Windfall Jelly. Original music to Jessica Swale’s lyrics by Robin Guy, whose music credits include This Flight Tonight, No Way to Say Goodbye, and numerous iterations of The Radio Show. Stage Management is by Lydia Talajic with Assistant Stage Manager Erika Scrivens, and the design team features scenic design and lighting by David Magladry and costuming by Kathryn Racine. The cast features a powerhouse of Ottawa actors including (in order of appearance) David Whiteley, Nicholas Dave Amott, Phillip Merriman, Bronwyn Steinberg, Robin Guy, Bryan Morris, Shawna Pasini, Brie Barker, J.T. Morris, and Cindy Beaton.
Ticket specials:
- Come costumed as a female historical figure and get 15% off your ticket!
- Bring your sister, and get the 2nd ticket half price! This offer is available at the door only, on show night: buy one ticket, and get a 2nd of the same or lesser value at half price.
- Three Sisters loves students! Audience members with a valid student card can pay-what-you-can at the door for Three Sisters shows on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and weekend matinees.
Nell Gwynn previews at The Gladstone Theatre, 910 Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa on Wednesday May 29, then opens on Thursday May 30, and runs evenings at 7:30 (Sunday & Monday nights dark), 2:30 on Saturdays & Sunday, until Saturday June 8.

Tickets are available from The Gladstone box office at www.thegladstone.ca or 613.233.4523.
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For Immediate Release – January 28, 2019
Three Sisters launches fifth season of gender equity in theatre
Ottawa: Three Sisters launches fifth season of gender equity in theatre
Now in its fifth season, Three Sisters Theatre Company has been working hard to fulfill its mandate, producing 6 plays and creating 78 jobs over the last 4 years, including 69 specifically employing women. In 2014, Three Sisters sprang from the observation that few productions in the Ottawa theatre community were passing the Bechdel Test. Three Sisters, now a Resident Company at The Gladstone Theatre, jumped into that gap, and mandated producing shows that not only have strong female roles, but offer opportunities for Ottawa’s considerable female talent pool to collaborate with one another.
“Over the last few years we have seen great progress in gender equity in the Ottawa theatre community at large,” says Robin Guy, Artistic Director for Three Sisters. “Five years ago, any female actor in town would have told you it was way easier for the men to get work, never mind good parts. The community has really put focus on closing that equity gap. There’s still a ways to go, but that picture has really improved.”
Three Sisters is celebrating its birthday with two plays about women, activism, and theatre – The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson in February, and Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale in May, both at The Gladstone.
The Revolutionists opens at The Gladstone on Valentine’s Day. In this sassy, hold-on-to-your-seats theatrical adventure, four beautiful, badass women hang out, murder Marat, and try to beat back the extremist insanity of 1793 Paris. This grand and dream-tweaked comedy is about violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we actually go about changing the world. It is a true story. And total fiction. A raucous resurrection, The Revolutionists is a call to action for all – grab your red sash and go!
“With women’s stories and activism around women’s rights constantly in the news, this show so very relevant.” says Bronwyn Steinberg, the show’s director. “This play has got it all – hilarity and heartbreak, love and hate, brutal honesty and highest hope, all rolled into a wildly funny and deeply touching story. You can’t help but love these characters, even while you question their motivations and actions. You laugh and cry through the story with them.”
Directed by Bronwyn Steinberg with Stage Management by Louisa Haché, the design team features scenic design by the Prix Rideau Award winning Andrea Steinwand, costuming by Vanessa Imeson, lighting by Laura Wheeler, and sound by Angela Schleihauf. The cast features a powerhouse of Ottawa actors including Rebecca Benson as Olympe de Gouges, Cassandre Mentor as Marianne Angelle, Victoria Luloff as Charlotte Corday, and Robin Guy as Marie Antoinette.
Ticket specials:
- Weekday matinee on Thursday February 21 at 11:00am with preview pricing.
- Come costumed as a female historical figure and get 15% off your ticket!
- Bring your sister, and get the 2nd ticket half price! This offer is available at the door only, on show night: buy one ticket, and get a 2nd of the same or lesser value at half price.
- Three Sisters loves students! Audience members with a valid student card can pay-what-you-can at the door for Three Sisters shows on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and weekend matinees.
The Revolutionists previews at The Gladstone Theatre, 910 Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa on Wednesday February 13, then opens on Thursday February 14, and runs evenings at 7:30 (Sunday & Monday nights dark), 2:30 on Saturdays & Sunday, and 11:00am on Thursday February 21, until Saturday February 23.
Tickets are available from The Gladstone box office at www.thegladstone.ca or 613.233.4523.
Media Contact: Robin Guy Phone: 613.864.8995 – Email: robin@threesisterstheatre.ca
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For Immediate Release – February 1, 2018
The perfect place to be on Valentine’s Day – The Clean House opens at The Gladstone
Three Sisters Theatre Company, Ottawa’s own indie theatre company dedicated to promoting local opportunities for women in theatre, opens its first show this season with Sarah Ruhl’s The Clean House on February 14 at The Gladstone Theatre.
Whether or not you’re a fan of Valentine’s Day, The Clean House is the perfect place to be on February 14. An unsentimental romantic comedy about love, loss, change, and redemption, The Clean House (Pulitzer Prize finalist & winner of The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize) is a whimsical, touching, hilarious piece of theatre. A serious career-oriented doctor, Lane, has hired a quirky Brazilian maid. The only problem is that the maid, Matilde, hates to clean – instead, she longs to be a comedienne. When Lane’s husband Charles meets his bashert, the household unravels, despite the best efforts of Lane’s sister Virginia to keep things tidy. This funny, tender play has screwy poetry and penetrating wisdom, oddball humor, deadpan soap, operatic arias, fantasy, spirituality and a soaring sense of romance, reminding us that there is humour and beauty to be found in life’s most unlikely messes.

“This is a personal favorite,” says Robin Guy, Artistic Director for Three Sisters. “This show has got it all – hilarity and heartbreak, love and hate, brutal honesty and highest hope, all rolled into Sarah Ruhl’s gorgeous, sensitive writing. You can’t help but love these characters, you laugh and cry through the story with them.”
The Clean House is directed by Mary Ellis with Assistant Director Sarah Finn, and stage managed by Lydia Talajic with Assistant Stage Manager Kel MacDonald, with set design by Andrea Steinwand, lighting design by David Magladry, and costume design by Michelle Ferranti. The cast features a host of well-known Ottawa actors including Puja Uppal as Matilde, Robin Guy as Lane, Cindy Beaton as Virginia, Guy Buller as Charles, and Rebecca Benson as Ana.

Ticket specials:
- Bring your sister, and get the 2nd ticket half price! This offer is available at the door only, on show night: buy one ticket, and get a 2nd of the same or lesser value at half price.
- Three Sisters loves students! Audience members with a valid student card can always pay-what-you-can at the door for Three Sisters shows.
The Clean House opens at The Gladstone Theatre, 910 Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa on Wednesday February 14, and runs evenings at 7:30 (Sunday & Monday nights dark) and 2:30 on Saturdays & Sunday, until Saturday February 24.
Tickets are available from The Gladstone box office at www.thegladstone.ca or 613.233.4523.
Media Contact: Robin Guy: info@threesisterstheatre.ca
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For Immediate Release – January 11, 2017
Theatre Classic Crimes of the Heart comes to The Gladstone
Three Sisters Theatre Company, Ottawa’s own indie theatre company dedicated to promoting local opportunities for women in theatre, opens its second show this season with Beth Henley’s classic Crimes of the Heart, February 9 at The Gladstone Theatre.
Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, this astonishing classic is warm-hearted, irreverent, zany and brilliantly imaginative. The play teems with humanity and humour as it examines the grave yet somehow hilarious troubles of three Mississippi sisters. Playing through Valentine’s Day, this show celebrates the love and constancy of family through good times and bad.
“This is a personal favorite,” says Robin Guy, Artistic Director for Three Sisters. “This show has got it all – hilarity and heartbreak, love and hate, brutal honesty and highest hope, all rolled into a tight 24-hour story about a family in crisis. You can’t help but love these characters, you laugh and cry through the story with them.”
Directed by Laura Duncan and stage managed by Louisa Haché, with design by David Magladry, the cast features a host of well-known Ottawa actors including Robin Guy as Lenny, Linda Webster as Chick, Terry Duncan as Doc, Shawna Pasini as Babe, Cindy Beaton as Meg, and Nicholas Dave Amott as Barnette.
Ticket specials:
- Two for One Valentine’s Special on Tuesday February 14!
- Bring your sister, and get the 2nd ticket half price! This offer is available at the door only, on show night: buy one ticket, and get a 2nd of the same or lesser value at half price.
- Three Sisters loves students! Audience members with a valid student card can always pay-what-you-can at the door for Three Sisters shows.
Crimes of the Heart previews on Wednesday February 8 and opens at The Gladstone Theatre, 910 Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa on Thursday February 9, and runs evenings at 7:30 (Sunday & Monday nights dark) and 2:30 on Saturdays & Sunday, until Saturday February 18.
Tickets are available from The Gladstone box office at www.thegladstone.ca or 613.233.4523.
Media Contact: Robin Guy Phone: 613.864.8995 – Email: robin@threesisterstheatre.ca
For Immediate Release – August 10, 2016

Turns Out, Even Desdemona had Dirty Laundry….
Ottawa: Launching The Gladstone Theatre’s 2016-2017 Season, Three Sisters Theatre Company opens Paula Vogel’s Desdemona, a Play About a Handkerchief on September 15, airing the dirty laundry accumulated in the back rooms of Shakespeare’s classic story. Desdemona is also the first play of the “Shakespeare Death-Fest” at The Gladstone, opening the season with three Shakespeare-derived plays in celebration of the 400th anniversary of his death.
Desdemona is a sexy and subversive dive into the lives of Shakespeare’s women, slipping into the backroom of Othello’s Cyprian palace and letting the audience in on the secrets that ultimately lead to Desdemona’s downfall. Minor characters in the original story (even Desdemona has little to do in the original play), the noblewoman Desdemona, her servant Emilia, and the prostitute Bianca come front and centre with what was really going on behind the scenes. Delving into the relationships between these three women of contrasting social class and experience with both humour and heartache, Desdemona picks through the boxes into which women file themselves – and each other – in the name of social safety & conformity.
“We see it so much in today’s society – the pressure to conform and fit into a particular “type” of woman. In Shakespeare’s time, we had the virgin, the matron, the whore; to this day we see the same classifications of women and we are socially trained to classify ourselves and each other, and then conform to the parameters of that “type,” says Robin Guy, Producer at Three Sisters, who is also playing the character Emilia. “There has really been very little change in terms of fundamental attitudes about women since Elizabethan times. Is the sexuality of women merely for the consumption of men or do they own it themselves? And if we agree that women have ownership of their own sexuality, why are we still slut-shaming or alternately, labelling those women who choose a more traditional path as non-feminist or repressed?”
Directed by Bronwyn Steinberg and stage managed by Louisa Haché, with set and costumes by Nancy Perrin and lighting by David Magladry, the cast features Élise Gauthier as Desdemona, Robin Guy as Emilia, and Gabrielle Lalonde as Bianca.
Desdemona, a Play About a Handkerchief opens at The Gladstone Theatre, 910 Gladstone Avenue, Ottawa, on September 15 and runs evenings at 7:30 (Sunday & Monday nights dark) and 2:30 on Saturdays & Sundays, until Saturday September 24.
Tickets are available from The Gladstone box office at www.thegladstone.ca or 613.233.4523.

For Immediate Release – January 28, 2016
Three Sisters Flips Gender Inequity with Biting Comedy
Ottawa: As a fitting prelude to International Women’s Day, Three Sisters Theatre Company is back with another production that flips male-centric theatre norms on their heads. What do you get when you mix up seven actresses, 13 characters, and two scripts? You get Anton in Show Business by Jane Martin, the winner of the 2001 American Theatre Critics Steinberg New Play Award. With biting satire, colourful characters, and cross-dressing complications, this madcap comedy follows three women across the footlights, down the rabbit hole and into a hilarious maelstrom of conflicts between art and “show biz” as they attempt a production of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters in San Antonio.
“We’re really excited to be producing Anton in Show Business, which takes gender inequity in the theatre world head on. It calls out all the taboos, labels them, and then hilariously dissects them. The production, directed by Bronwyn Steinberg, features seven amazing local female actors in both male and female roles, and lays bare both the funny and tragic complications that pursuing a career in show business creates in their lives,” says Robin Guy, the company’s Artistic Director.
Three Sisters’ mandate is to increase performance opportunities for Ottawa’s considerable female talent pool, creating more opportunities for women to work together, and ultimately bringing more complex female characters to a theatre scene that all too often neglects women’s stories.
In keeping with Three Sisters’ mandate to support female artists, the Company is delighted to host the Ottawa Equity in Theatre Reading Series on the Sunday evening during the run of Anton in Show Business. The event will feature new readings by two local female playwrights, Darrah Teitel and Adrienne Wong.
In addition, in the lobby of The Gladstone on the Saturdays and Sunday of the run, patrons can enjoy the Love Shack Pop Up, presented by Ladies Who Lunch, featuring handmade pieces for sale made by local female artisans including Creative Junction, Nathalie Deschamps Mixed Media Artist, Ashley Dumouchel’s handmade cutting boards, and Sue’s Sweets, selling cupcakes towards the Ottawa Humane Society’s Cupcake Day fundraiser.
Tickets for Anton in Show Business by Jane Martin are now on sale at The Gladstone Theatre box office (www.thegladstone.ca). The show opens February 24, and runs until March 5, 2016. The EiT Reading Series will take place on Sunday February 28 at 7:30, and the Love Shack Pop Up will appear on Saturday February 27, Sunday February 28, and Saturday March 5.
From Onstage Ottawa:
Bridging the Gap, Actor-producer Robin Guy stages Marion Bridge
In 1985, cult cartoonist Alison Bechdel, inspired by a friend, developed criteria by which to gauge gender bias in popular entertainment. Today, that test not only bares Bechdel’s name, it’s applied regularly by discriminating females looking to create more opportunity for women in the worlds of film, television, and theatre.
The freshest set of fingerprints you’ll find on that measuring stick belong to Ottawa actor-producer, Robin Guy. It’s the guiding light, in fact, of the Three Sisters Theatre Company, the on again-off again outfit Guy founded in 2009. Guy uses the Bechdel test to pinpoint worthy properties for mostly but not exclusively female casts.
…so, I guess at this point, you want to know what the criteria of the test is, right? Okay. Here it is:
- The property must feature at least two women in major roles
- These characters must talk to one another
- That talk can be about anything other than a man
Yes, it pares the catalogue at-large considerably but what’s left is usually intelligent, moving, occasionally funny and of times lyrical.
Six years ago, the company gave birth with Birth, a Vagina Monologues-esque look at the rigors and rewards of pregnancy (featuring staged scenes instead of long speeches). Guy put it on as a fundraiser for an educational obstetrical conference. Okay, not exactly Broadway, or even The Bronson Centre, but the eight female actors involved put on a heck of a show and the reception was good enough to inspire Guy to try her hand as actor-producer again. Starting with the company’s upcoming follow-up, Canadian playwright Daniel McIvor’s Marion Bridge, Three Sisters plans on staging shows on a more consistent basis. They’re not ready to make any big announcements yet – they’re too busy putting the finishing touches on the current production – but they’re definitely looking at morphing into a dependable presence.
Marion Bridge, like many a play written for a female cast, is a play about sisters – and more fittingly for a company called Three Sisters, three of them. Set in Cape Breton, the play focuses on an intriguing the trio – a nun, an actor and a recluse – forced to reunite after their diverse personal adventures to deal with their dying mother. “It’s a great story,” gushes Guy, who has admired Governor General Award-winner McIvor’s work for many years. “Each of the characters is fully formed and has her own challenges to deal with.”
Much like her character, Guy has many a ball to juggle herself – after all, being both actor and producer is not exactly an act Three, Scene Two walk-on. Plus, she’s still a rookie. “As an actor-producer, I have what feels like a massive learning curve,” she confesses. “My strategy has been to surround myself with experienced and knowledgeable people. Plus I’ve been having a lot of coffees with colleagues in the theatre community who are experienced producers and picking their brains. I ask a lot of naive questions and just try to absorb everything that they tell me.”
And why would someone constantly plying the floorboards (Guy keeps regular company with companies as Orpheus, Seven Thirty, Plosive, and the Eddie May dinner theatre murder mysteries) plus being busy raising a young son and daughter want to expend all that extra sweat equity? The answer is part feminism, part opportunism: “The reality of being a female actor in Ottawa,” explains Guy, “is that there is a huge pool of extremely talented women all showing up at all the same auditions, competing for maybe one or two parts. It’s pretty tough odds to get work. And there are certain plays and parts I really, really want to do, and the only way to make sure that that happens is to produce them.”
So, starting February 11 at The Gladstone (for a ten day run.) you’ll see Guy, along with the multi-talented Shawna Pasini and award-winning actor-director Cindy Beaton, bridging the gender gap with Bridge.
And once that Bridge has been crossed?
“As soon as we close,” says an eager Guy, “I’ll be reading scripts. Next season isn’t so far away.”
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From the Centretown News:
Three Sisters Theatre Company puts spotlight on female talent
- Friday, 06 February 2015
- By Wyatt Lang
- Published in : Centretown News, Arts
The Three Sisters Theatre Company combats the male-dominated theatre industry with its February production of the Daniel MacIvor play Marion Bridge at The Gladstone theatre.
Since 2009, the company has made it a mission to produce plays rich with female talent. Instead of pitting female actresses against each other all vying for the same scarce roles, Three Sisters has allowed Ottawa-area actresses to work together in a creative environment.
With the mantra, “making sure Ottawa theatre can pass the Bechdel test,” Three Sisters strives to produce female-focused theatre, full of dynamic and realistic female characters.
The Bechdel test, which was created in 1985 by American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, has become a popular method of determining the complexity and impact of female characters in a production. According to the Bechdel test website, in order to pass the test the production must contain two or more female characters who talk with one another about something other than a man.
With a cast and crew consisting predominantly of women, Three Sisters Theatre Company is making sure Marion Bridge does not fall into that category.
The play Marion Bridge is a story about three disconnected sisters who return home to Cape Breton to be with their dying mother. It follows the relationship between the women as they reconnect and unearth old questions and resentments on their way to finding sisterhood again.
Robin Guy, the artistic director of Three Sisters and one of the leads in Marion Bridge, says that in the process of picking productions for the theatre season, the role of the man tends to outweigh the role of the woman.
“When the plays are getting picked by guys, the guys pick plays that have really great guy parts in them. Unfortunately in most of the plays that have really awesome guy parts, the girls are not good roles.”
For more than 20 years, Guy has been part of the Ottawa theatre scene and says she has experienced the difficulty women tend to face when trying to pursue theatre careers.
“The other problem with plays locally is that there aren’t very many women in the plays – even if you get the part, you may be the only girl in the green room.”
Due to the largely female cast and crew, with just one male lighting designer among the group, Guy says Marion Bridge has given her a chance to work alongside women she’s longed to collaborate with.
Bronwyn Steinberg, director of Marion Bridge, is the daughter of a high school theatre teacher and she says she’s been involved since her childhood.
“I really admire the team; it’s a whole bunch of strong talented women getting together,” says Steinberg.
Marion Bridge is set to run Feb. 11 to Feb. 21 at The Gladstone.
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From the Ottawa Citizen:
Three Sisters Theatre: Company bridging the gender gap on stage

When Daniel MacIvor’s Marion Bridge opens Feb. 11 at The Gladstone, producer/actor Robin Guy is hoping the production will not only be well-received but also help address the gender imbalance that many say afflicts professional theatre in Ottawa and elsewhere.
MacIvor’s comedic drama, turned into an award-winning Canadian film in 2002, is about three grown sisters who after years apart gather in the kitchen of their childhood Cape Breton home to confront a family crisis.
With its all-female cast (Guy, Shawna Pasini and Cindy Beaton), director (Bronwyn Steinberg), and stage manager (Hilary Nichol) the production fulfills the mandate of Three Sisters Theatre: to produce shows with strong female roles and in which women collaborate. The company was launched by Guy in 2009 with a production of Birth but has since been on hiatus.
Guy says the company is now forging ahead because female roles, let alone meaty ones, are too rare in local productions. “I think the problem in Ottawa is that most of the production companies are run by guys so they’re picking shows they want to be in. That’s my impression.”
As examples — and Guy stresses that she’s accusing no one of misogyny — she points to testosterone-heavy productions like last season’s Glengarry Glen Ross and Ethan Claymore, both at The Gladstone.
With so many independent theatre companies coming and going in Ottawa, it’s hard to know if Guy is right about why females aren’t getting enough work here. One thing for sure, though: gender inequality is a big problem in Canadian theatre generally.
For instance, a 2006 study by the Playwrights Guild of Canada and others found that in Canadian theatre women accounted for an average of just 31 per cent of artistic directors, show directors and produced playwrights.
Men also got 57 per cent of the acting jobs while women predominated in administrative and other mostly behind-the-scenes roles.
More bad news: women’s representation in key creative roles like acting is still below 35 per cent and appears to be regressing among playwrights according to a 2014 press release announcing the formation of Equity in Theatre, an organization led in part by the guild.
This, despite the fact that women far outnumber men in professional theatre training programs and account for 59 per cent of theatre audiences in Canada.
The situation in the United States appears little better according to recent studies there.
“Theatre is stuck in old production models,” says the guild’s Rebecca Burton. She was lead researcher for the 2006 study.
She cites multiple reasons for the systemic inequality, from lack of money to encourage innovation to the fact that women continue to be the principal care givers for children and aging parents – tricky when it comes to long hours in rehearsal followed by nightly performances.
The Great Canadian Theatre Company’s artistic director Eric Coates says resolving gender inequity in the theatre has always been one of his primary goals.
In the three seasons he’s programmed since joining GCTC in 2012, and including the still-unannounced 2015-16 season, Coates has been running close to 50/50 on the total number of male and female playwrights, directors and actors.
In fact, GCTC has seen a gradual shift to gender equity, at least among playwrights and directors, since the mid-2000s.
“That’s when the Playwrights Guild really started to bring the issue forward and asking the professional theatres to do something,” says Coates.
In his own case, play selection is “always about the art first,” he says. “But I make sure that every play I look at is through the lens of gender equity. If I do a show with a cast of two men, I make sure the next one has more women. Sometimes the balance is struck over the course of a season.”
He also mentions that while recent numbers show a slide in female playwrights being produced, the fact that Shakespeare and Canadian playwright Norm Foster alone account for many productions each year needs to be factored in – although “that’s not an excuse.”
NAC English Theatre artistic director Jillian Keiley says in an email that her director and playwright choices are based on excellence. The current season, for example, has more male playwrights and directors whereas next season females predominate in both camps. “I don’t have a quota system or anything like it,” she writes.
Plosive Productions’ co-founder David Whiteley says the company’s goal is gender equality. However, that can sometimes be difficult to square with the need to attract audiences with a repertoire that includes classic pieces like Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac where men are in the spotlight (Guy describes her role as Roxane in the 2012 Plosive production of Cyrano as “standing around mooning over some guy. Stab me now!”).
Steinberg, who in addition to gigs like directing Marion Bridge, runs the independent theatre series TACTICS, says that one reason gender inequality continues is that in a town like Ottawa there simply isn’t enough theatre work to go around. It’s hard to break old patterns of behaviour when opportunities overall are limited.
If you’re a woman, she says, “you need to be willing to produce (your own shows) and take on the financial risk. You’re going to have to be an entrepreneur.”
MARION BRIDGE
When: Feb. 11-21
Where: The Gladstone
Tickets: 613- 233-4523, thegladstone.ca
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For Immediate Release – February 6, 2015
Three Sisters opens the first of three MacIvor plays in Ottawa
Ottawa: Three Sisters opens the first of three MacIvor plays in Ottawa with Marion Bridge, February 11-21 2015
MacIvor fans can start a three-show binge with Three Sisters’ Marion Bridge, opening Wednesday at The Gladstone. With Marion Bridge in February, The Best Brothers at GCTC in March, and Too Much Sugar Productions’ In on It at the Ottawa Fringe, MacIvor lovers can satisfy their need for quirky humour, well developed characters and the distinct writing style that has garnered multiple awards for renowned Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor.
The first of these plays, Marion Bridge, is the launch of Three Sisters Theatre Company’s Ottawa presence. Portrayed by local actors and real-life best friends Robin Guy, Shawna Pasini, and Cindy Beaton, and directed by Bronwyn Steinberg, the MacKeigan sisters find themselves together in their childhood kitchen for the first time in years, holding darkly comic vigil through the passing of their mother. An assertively comedic drama about making the best out of life, Marion Bridge follows the three sisters as they laugh, cry, fight, and ultimately forge forward.
Not only is there a great play to see, but The Gladstone’s lobby is housing an art show featuring the work of local artists Laura Duncan and Graham Mastersmith, and Halifax artist Marilyn Lohnes. “The play is so distinctly set in Nova Scotia that a maritime-themed art show seemed an obvious pairing for the event,” says Robin Guy, Producing Artistic Director for Three Sisters Theatre Company.
Three Sisters Theatre Company’s mandate is to produce shows that not only have strong female roles, but offer opportunities for the considerable female talent in the Ottawa theatre community to collaborate with one another.
Marion Bridge opens at The Gladstone Theatre, 910 Gladstone Avenue, on February 11 and runs evenings at 7:30 (Sunday & Monday nights dark) and 2:30 on Saturdays & Sundays, until February 21.
Tickets are available from The Gladstone box office at www.thegladstone.ca or 613.233.4523.
For preview, review or interview requests or general media inquiries, please contact Robin Guy
(E)info@threesisterstheatre.ca
Hi-res images are available on request
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For Immediate Release – January 29, 2015
Opening February 11 at The Gladstone: Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor
Ottawa: Three Sisters Theatre Company presents Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor, February 11-21 2015
Three Sisters Theatre Company is launching its Ottawa presence with a play about – what else? – three sisters. The MacKeigan sisters, to be precise, the family central to Daniel MacIvor’s luminous, poignant, and entertaining play Marion Bridge.
Portrayed by local actors and real-life best friends Robin Guy, Shawna Pasini, and Cindy Beaton, and directed by Bronwyn Steinberg, the MacKeigan sisters find themselves together in their childhood kitchen for the first time in years, holding darkly comic vigil through the passing of their mother. An assertively comedic drama about making the best out of life, Marion Bridge follows the three sisters as they laugh, cry, fight, and ultimately forge forward.
Three Sisters Theatre Company’s mandate is to produce shows that not only have strong female roles, but offer opportunities for the considerable female talent in the Ottawa theatre community to collaborate with one another: the perfect formula for passing the Bechdel Test. What is now known as the Bechdel test was introduced in a comic strip by Alison Bechdel. To pass the test, the story must meet three requirements: 1. there must be least two women in it; 2. who talk to each other; 3. about something other than a man.
Marion Bridge opens at The Gladstone Theatre, 910 Gladstone Avenue, on February 11 and runs evenings at 7:30 (Sunday & Monday nights dark) and 2:30 on Saturdays & Sundays, until February 21.
Tickets are available from The Gladstone box office at www.thegladstone.ca or 613.233.4523.
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For Immediate Release – January 9, 2015
New Professional Theatre Company helps Ottawa pass the Bechdel Test
Three Sisters Theatre Company
Artistic Director, Robin Guy
www.threesisterstheatre.ca
Ottawa: There’s a new theatre company in town, and it’s helping Ottawa’s professional theatre scene to pass the Bechdel test. Three Sisters mandate is to produce shows that not only have strong female roles, but offer opportunities for the considerable female talent in the Ottawa theatre community to collaborate with one another: the perfect formula for passing the Bechdel Test.
What is now known as the Bechdel test was introduced in a comic strip by Alison Bechdel. To pass the test, the story must meet three requirements: 1. there must be least two women in it; 2. who talk to each other; 3. about something other than a man. Three Sisters, the brainchild of local actor Robin Guy, sprang from the observation that the male performers in town were working considerably more often, and had higher quality roles, than their female counterparts.
“All the brilliant women actors in this town, and last year for example we saw Glengarry Glenross, Ethan Claymore, and an all-male cast of Taming of the Shrew. All fabulous plays, with very strong, all-male or nearly all-male casts,” says Guy. “Even when there are female roles, there tend to be one or maybe two in the play, and they aren’t good, meaty, parts like the male parts but tend to be objectified or shallow. I realized that the reason for this is because the production companies are mostly led by the guys, so of course they pick shows that have good male parts. So if the women want to work, and to have parts that are more interesting than the sweet little ingénue or the love interest of the male lead, then we’re going to have to produce those shows.”
Three Sisters’ first production is Marion Bridge by award-winning Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor. Tickets are now on sale at The Gladstone Theatre for the production opening February 11 and running until February 21, 2015.