Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Maxwell, Jackie
Director and dramaturge, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1956. She studied drama at Manchester University and acted in Ireland and England before moving to Canada in 1978. She has worked with many Canadian theatre companies and artists, and is particularly interested in developing work by women.
She is currently Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival , beginning her tenure at the end of the 2002 season. For the Shaw Festival she has directed among others: William Inge's Picnic (2001); Shaw's Candida, Pygmalion, Arms and The Man and Saint Joan (2007); Chekhov's Three Sisters; Michel Marc Bouchard 's The Coronation Voyage; Githa Sowerby's, Rutherford and Son (which later played at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa).
She has been the director of new play development for the Charlottetown Festival (1997-2000) and Artistic Director of Factory Theatre (1987-1995 -- she began there as Associate Director in 1983). At the Factory Theatre, she developed and produced early works by now prominent Canadian playwrights such as George Walker , Michel Marc Bouchard, Sharon Pollock , Ann-Marie MacDonald and Michel Garneau . More recently, she has directed for the Factory: Zadie’s Shoes by Adam Pettle (remounted by Mirvish Productions at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre ), Raymond Storey 's Girls in the Gang, and Sally Clark 's Moo. She also staged the English-language premiere of Serge Boucher 's Motel Hélène in April, 2000.
She has also directed at the National Theatre School of Canada , Canadian Stage , Tarragon Theatre (for which she directed the premiere of Erika Ritter 's Murder at McQueen in 1986), Theatre Calgary , Manitoba Theatre Centre , and the Grand Theatre, London .
In 1998 she directed ex-roommate Shelagh Stephenson's The Memory of Water at Tarragon; the work went on to win the Olivier award when it was staged in London, England. In 2000 David Mirvish revived her production in Toronto at the Elgin/Winter Garden Theatre.
She has been dramaturge and teacher at the Banff Centre for the Arts , York University, George Brown College, Queen’s University, and the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal. For eight years she was Guest Artist/Lecturer at the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama at the University of Toronto.
In October 2005 she received the National Theatre School’s Gascon-Thomas Award in recognition of her exceptional achievements in Canadian theatre. In June 2007 she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities from the University of Windsor. In 2008 she was awarded the Herbert Whittaker /Drama Bench Award in recognition of her exceptional achievements in Canadian theatre.
She has two children and lives in Toronto with her husband, actor Benedict Campbell .
Source: Shaw Festival website: www.shawfest.com
Last updated 2010-03-23
Since October 2002, Athabasca University has hosted the web site, with an editorial board comprising members of the Canadian Association for Theatre Research.
To submit an entry for consideration, please consult our guidelines for submissions. Please follow the guidelines. Failure to do so will result in your submission being returned to you.
Email your submission to Anne Nothof.
The Encyclopedia collects and disseminates information on plays, playwrights and theatre practitioners. It does not respond to requests for information, auditions, bookings, or tickets.
The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia web site was originally conceived and developed in 1996 by Gaetan Charlebois—theatre critic, playwright, and actor.
