Sierra Haynes wanted to know “How do you write a play?”  Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jennifer Brewin thought it was a good question and commissioned her to create Stage Write: The Playwrights’ Podcast. Sierra interviewed 5 playwrights who inspired her and shaped her dedication to Canadian Theatre. Then she flipped the script and asked them to interview the playwright that got them writing. For our final episode of season one, Rex Deverell has invited fellow playwright, Marcia Johnson to join us.

Marcia Johnson Marcia Johnson is a theatre artist based in Toronto. Serving Elizabeth, in which she also acted, had its world premiere at Western Canada Theatre (co-produced with Thousand Islands Playhouse) in February 2020 and published by Scirocco Drama. The TIP production was pandemic-delayed by a

Marcia Johnson is honoured to be the 2022 Cayle Chernin Woman of the Year and recipient of the Playwrights Guild of Canada Life Membership Award, 2021.

The Globe Theatre is located in Regina, Saskatchewan and has a mission to entertain, educate and engage in the art of professional theatre. Globe Theatre is located on Treaty 4 territory, the traditional lands of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Nakoda, Lakota, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.

Sierra Haynes wanted to know “How do you write a play?”  Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jennifer Brewin thought it was a good question and commissioned her to create Stage Write: The Playwrights’ Podcast. Sierra interviewed 5 playwrights who inspired her and shaped her dedication to Canadian Theatre. Then she flipped the script and asked them to interview the playwright that got them writing. This episode, Sierra welcomes back Christine Quintana who invited her friend and inspiration, Donna-Michelle St. Bernard.

Donna-Michelle St. Bernard aka Belladonna the Blest is an emcee, playwright and agitator. Her main body of work, the 54ology, includes: Cake, Sound of the Beast, A Man A Fish, Salome’s Clothes, Dark Love, Gas Girls, Give It Up, The Smell of Horses, Diggers and The First Stone. Other offerings include TYA (Reaching For Starlight, Geordie Productions) libretti (Oubliette, Forbidden and Nucleosynthesis, Tapestry Opera) collaborative works (They Say He Fell with Nir Bareket for Pandemic Theatre, The House You Build with Circle of Voices for Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company) and weird reflections (Thought Residency, Spiderwebshow). DM is currently the emcee in residence at Theatre Passe Muraille, associate artist at lemonTree Creations, artistic director of New Harlem Productions, coordinator of the AD HOC Assembly, and of play development at Nightwood Theatre and Theatre Aquarius. 

The Globe Theatre is located in Regina, Saskatchewan and has a mission to entertain, educate and engage in the art of professional theatre. Globe Theatre is located on Treaty 4 territory, the traditional lands of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Nakoda, Lakota, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.

Sierra wanted to know “How do you write a play?”  Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jennifer Brewin thought it was a good question and commissioned her to create Stage Write: The Playwrights’ Podcast. Sierra interviewed 5 playwrights who inspired her and shaped her dedication to Canadian Theatre. Then she flipped the script and asked them to interview the playwright that got them writing. When Sierra first approached Beth Graham and Daniela Vlaskalic about joining Stage Write, she asked them to pick another artist or writing duo like themselves, trying to be conscious of their time. To her great surprise, they offered to sit down twice more with two playwrights! This next conversation is with Mieko Ouchi.

Mieko Ouchi works as a freelance actor, writer, director and dramaturg and is the Associate Artistic Director at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. She is also a co-founder and an Artistic Associate at Concrete Theatre, where she held artistic leadership roles for 31 years. Recently completed projects include dramaturging The Fiancée and directing A Brimful of Asha for The Citadel, Alberta Kitchen Party for ATP, She Kills Monsters for the U of A and Parts & Labour for Field Work. Next season, Mieko will be directing Pride and Prejudice at the Citadel as well as her own play Burning Mom at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. 

The Globe Theatre is located in Regina, Saskatchewan and has a mission to entertain, educate and engage in the art of professional theatre. Globe Theatre is located on Treaty 4 territory, the traditional lands of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Nakoda, Lakota, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.

Sierra Haynes wanted to know “How do you write a play?”  Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jennifer Brewin thought it was a good question and commissioned her to create Stage Write: The Playwrights’ Podcast. Sierra interviewed 5 playwrights who inspired her and shaped her dedication to Canadian Theatre. Then she flipped the script and asked them to interview the playwright that got them writing. Beth Graham and Daniela Vlaskalic, the dynamic duo, are back and they’ve invited Karen Hines to join Stage Write.

Karen Hines’ multi-prize-winning plays offer keen musings on modern life, combining such disparate elements as magical realism, pink-brand feminism and environmental disarray. Her solo performances and ‘little’ films featuring her darkly comic character ‘Pochsy’ have traveled the globe. Hines has collaborated as a director and dramaturg with many fellow artists such as Linda Griffiths, Michelle Thrush, and adult horror clowns Mump & Smoot since their inception. Hines was a 2020 Siminovitch Finalist, and twice finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and her productions, plays and performances have seen venues such as One Yellow Rabbit, Joe’s Pub (Public Theatre), Astor Place Off-Broadway, Tarragon, Videofag, Factory, Canadian Stage, Soulpepper, NAC. For Montreal’s Festival du Jamais Lu 2022, Hines’ All the Little Animals I Have Eaten was translated and staged (Tous les petits animaux que j’ai dévouré) and her real estate horror Crawlspace continues to micro-theatres across Canada in French and English. Crawlspace is being adapted as screenplay, and is now a CBC podcast (PlayMe; Radio One). Upcoming, Pochsy IV in 2023. 

The Globe Theatre is located in Regina, Saskatchewan and has a mission to entertain, educate and engage in the art of professional theatre. Globe Theatre is located on Treaty 4 territory, the traditional lands of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Nakoda, Lakota, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.

Sierra Haynes wanted to know “How do you write a play?”  Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jennifer Brewin thought it was a good question and commissioned her to create Stage Write: The Playwrights’ Podcast. Sierra interviewed 5 playwrights who inspired her and shaped her dedication to Canadian Theatre. Then she flipped the script and asked them to interview the playwright that got them writing. Jennifer Dawn Bishop has invited playwright Keith Barker to Stage Write.

Keith Barker is a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario. He is a playwright, actor, and director from Northwestern Ontario. Keith is the Director of the Foerster Bernstein New Play Development Program at the Stratford Festival, and the former Artistic Director at Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto. He is the winner of the Dora Mavor Moore Award and the Playwrights Guild’s Carol Bolt Award for best new play. Keith was a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for English Drama in 2018 for his play, This Is How We Got Here. He received a Saskatchewan and Area Theatre Award for Excellence in Playwriting for his play, The Hours That Remain, as well as a Yukon Arts Award for Best Art for Social Change.

The Globe Theatre is located in Regina, Saskatchewan and has a mission to entertain, educate and engage in the art of professional theatre. Globe Theatre is located on Treaty 4 territory, the traditional lands of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Nakoda, Lakota, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.

Sierra Haynes wanted to know “How do you write a play?”  Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jennifer Brewin thought it was a good question and commissioned her to create Stage Write: The Playwrights’ Podcast. Sierra interviewed 5 playwrights who inspired her and shaped her dedication to Canadian Theatre. Then she flipped the script and asked them to interview the playwright that got them writing. These are exceptional conversations, uncovering a wealth of knowledge about the people who shape our stories for the stage. The fourth episode features a conversation with Rex Deverell.

Over a long and productive career in Canadian Theatre, Rex Deverell has pursued a fascination with issues of social justice and conviction. He holds arts and theology degrees from McMaster University and from Union Theological Seminary, New York City. In 1971, Rex began to write plays at first for Regina’s Globe Theatre school company and ultimately became the Globe's first long term Playwright-in-Residence. Deverell's first work for the Globe main stage was Boiler Room Suite, the story of two sad transients dreaming an afternoon away in the boiler room of an old hotel. Since then, Boiler Room Suite has received international productions, including translations in French and Japanese. The Banff Centre toured an operatic version of the play in the U.K. (music by Quentin Doolittle.)

Honours and awards: McMaster Honour Society; Playwright's Award, University of Western Ontario, (The Invitation); Ohio State Award, (radio adaptation of The Mule); Canadian Authors Award, (Boiler Room Suite); McMaster University Alumni Gallery; Major Armstrong Award, (The Riel Commission); Chalmers Award (Belonging); The Short Circuit was nominated for a Chalmers in 1994; Margaret E. Woodward Hall of Fame (Theatre Saskatchewan) 2005; life membership in the Guild of Canadian Playwrights.

He has written libretti and lyrics with composers Quentin Doolittle, (Boiler Room Suite, Leviathan Hook), Andrew Ager, (Ellis Portal), Tom Schudel, (Oresteia), Rob Bryanton (Globe Theatre Revues and Plays with Music).

The Globe Theatre is located in Regina, Saskatchewan and has a mission to entertain, educate and engage in the art of professional theatre. Globe Theatre is located on Treaty 4 territory, the traditional lands of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Nakoda, Lakota, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.

Sierra Haynes wanted to know “How do you write a play?”  Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jennifer Brewin thought it was a good question and commissioned her to create Stage Write: The Playwrights’ Podcast. Sierra interviewed 5 playwrights who inspired her and shaped her dedication to Canadian Theatre. Then she flipped the script and asked them to interview the playwright that got them writing. These are exceptional conversations, uncovering a wealth of knowledge about the people who shape our stories for the stage. The third episode features a conversation with Christine Quintana.

Born in Los Angeles to a Mexican-American father and a Dutch-British-Canadian mother, Christine is now a grateful visitor to the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. Christine is an actor, playwright, and co-Artistic Producer of Delinquent Theatre. In these various capacities, she has worked with Tarragon Theatre, the Arts Club Theatre Company, Bard on the Beach, The Cultch, Neworld Theatre, Electric Company Theatre, Rumble Theatre, Boca Del Lupo, Zee Zee Theatre, Caravan Farm Theatre, Ruby Slippers Theatre, Playwrights Theatre Centre, Pi Theatre, Gateway Theatre, Nightswimming Theatre, Belfry Theatre, Stratford Festival, and Young People’s Theatre. Her writing has been translated and performed in Spanish, French, ASL, and German. 

Creation/performing highlights include Clean (translated and adapted by Paula Zelaya Cervantes), premiering with Neworld Theatre and South Coast Repertory; Never The Last (co-created with Molly MacKinnon), produced by Delinquent Theatre, recipient of 5 Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nominations including Outstanding Production and Outstanding New Script and winner of Significant Artistic Achievement; Selfie (commissioned by Théâtre la Seizième in French, and Young People’s Theatre in English, Governor General’s Award nominee, winner of the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding TYA Play, the Sydney Risk Prize for Outstanding Script by an Emerging Playwright, and the Tom Hendry award for TYA); Good Things To Do (rEvolver Festival and FoldA). As an actor, Christine has recently played in Made In Canada (rice & beans theatre), Anywhere But Here (Electric Company Theatre), The Coyotes (Caravan Farm Theatre), Marine Life (Ruby Slippers Theatre), Yoga Play (Gateway Theatre), East Van Panto: The Wizard of Oz (Theatre Replacement and The Cultch). Received the 2017 Siminovitch Protege Prize for Playwriting from Marcus Youssef, and is a proud co-founding member of the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition.  She holds a BFA in Acting from the University of British Columbia. 

The Globe Theatre is located in Regina, Saskatchewan and has a mission to entertain, educate and engage in the art of professional theatre. Globe Theatre is located on Treaty 4 territory, the traditional lands of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Nakoda, Lakota, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.

Sierra Haynes wanted to know “How do you write a play?”  Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jennifer Brewin thought it was a good question and commissioned her to create Stage Write: The Playwrights’ Podcast. Sierra interviewed 5 playwrights who inspired her and shaped her dedication to Canadian Theatre. Then she flipped the script and asked them to interview the playwright that got them writing. These are exceptional conversations, uncovering a wealth of knowledge about the people who shape our stories for the stage. The second of these conversations is with Daniela Vlaskalic and Beth Graham.

Daniela Vlaskalic is an award-winning Canadian actor and playwright. As an actor she has appeared across the county with most of Canada’s major theatres including; The Stratford Festival, The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Theatre Calgary, The Citadel Theatre, The Globe Theatre, The Vancouver Playhouse, The Canadian Stage Company, The Tarragon Theatre, The Belfry Theatre, and many more. Recent Film & Television credits included: Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Private Eyes (Global) and The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Muse Productions). As a playwright Daniela’s plays include, The Castaways and Sleight of Mind (world premiere in 2022). She has also co-written several plays including: The Last Train, Comrades, Mules, and the multiple award-winning play; The Drowning Girls (Dora nomination, Elizabeth Sterling Award, Betty Mitchell Award, SATA Award). The Drowning Girls has received multiple productions nationally and internationally, is published by Canada Playwrights Press and received the Gwen Pharis Ringwood literary award for Drama. Her latest collaboration, Dora Maar: the wicked one (with co-writer Beth Graham), is slated for its world premiere in Calgary, spring of 2022. Daniela lives in Toronto. 

Beth Graham is a playwright and an actor. Her play The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble was shortlisted for the Governor Generals’ Award, received the Gwen Pharis Literary Award and was published by Playwrights Canada Press. She has also co-written plays which include: The Drowning Girls, Comrades, Mules, Victor and Victoria’s Terrifying Tale of Terrible Things and Fortune Falls. Beth is currently the Lee Playwright in Residence at the University of Alberta and the resident dramaturg at Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre. Her latest co-creation with Daniela Vlaskalic is Dora Maar: the wicked one. Beth lives in Edmonton, with her partner Patrick, and two wee dogs, Oscar and Lily. 

The Globe Theatre is located in Regina, Saskatchewan and has a mission to entertain, educate and engage in the art of professional theatre. Globe Theatre is located on Treaty 4 territory, the traditional lands of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Nakoda, Lakota, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.

Sierra Haynes wanted to know “How do you write a play?”  Globe Theatre’s Artistic Director, Jennifer Brewin thought it was a good question and commissioned her to create Stage Write: The Playwrights’ Podcast. Sierra interviewed 5 playwrights who inspired her and shaped her dedication to Canadian Theatre. Then she flipped the script and asked them to interview the playwright that got them writing. These are exceptional conversations, uncovering a wealth of knowledge about the people who shape our stories for the stage.  The first of these conversations is with Jennifer Dawn Bishop.

Jennifer a Metis artist of the Treaty Six Territory is an actor, playwright, director and Artistic Director of the Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre. Starting with the company when it first opened its doors in 1999 with the Circle of Voices Program. Continuing her passion in the arts, Jennifer’s most recent work includes directing 3 audiobook projects with Penguin Random House Canada, her play Shadows among the Prairies had its world premier presented at the new SOTS site and shortly after debut directed at Persephone Theatres production Cottagers & Indians by Drew Hayden Taylor. Jennifer looks forward to what comes next! 

The Globe Theatre is located in Regina, Saskatchewan and has a mission to entertain, educate and engage in the art of professional theatre. Globe Theatre is located on Treaty 4 territory, the traditional lands of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Nakoda, Lakota, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation.