Jennifer Brewin is a Canadian writer, director, and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

. She is known for co-creating ''

The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls ''The Attic, The Pearls and Three Fine Girls'' is a Canadian comedic play collectively written by Jennifer Brewin, Martha Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Alisa Palmer, and Leah Cherniak. The title is sometimes stylized ''The Attic, The Pearls And 3 ...

'' and her other work with Common Boots Theatre, formerly known as Theatre Columbus and the Caravan Farm Theatre. In 2020, she was appointed the artistic director of the Globe Theatre in Regina.

Career

After graduating from Queen's University she joined Toronto's Common Boots Theatre as the indie theatre company's first general manager. It was there she developed a theatre practice rooted in physical theatre and collaborative creation. In 1994, she directed Eugene Ionesco's ''Rhinoceros'' at the

Harbourfront Centre Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became ...

. ''The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls'', a collective creation with Brewin, Martha Ross,

Ann-Marie MacDonald Ann-Marie MacDonald (born October 29, 1958) is a Canadian playwright, author, actress, and broadcast host who lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. MacDonald is the daughter of a member of Canada's military; she was born at an air force base near ...

Alisa Palmer Alisa Palmer is a Canadian theatre director and playwright. She was the artistic director of Nightwood Theatre from 1993 to 2001. Palmer is currently the artistic director of the English section of the National Theatre School of Canada. Early l ...

, and

Leah Cherniak Leah Cherniak (born 1956) is a Canadian playwright, actor, and teacher. She is a co-founder of Theatre Columbus (now called Common Boots). Early life and education Cherniak graduated from the University of Toronto with a BA in 1979. She later s ...

, premiered in 1995. Brewin was credited as a dramaturg of this production. By the time the show was re-staged in 1997, Brewin was referred to as a "contributing artist". Brewin directed Larry Lewis's ''Irreleva'' in 1996 at Theatre Centre West. Between 1998 and 2005, Brewin was co-artistic director of Caravan Farm Theatre in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. While working with Caravan Farm Theatre, Brewin wrote and directed twelve outdoor theatre productions. In 2010, Brewin succeeded Cherniak and Ross and became artistic director of Common Boots Theatre, formerly known as Theatre Columbus. As artistic director, Brewin initiated ''The Public Servant'', a collective creation centering Canadian public sector workers. Brewin acted as dramaturge for the projects final script, which premiered in 2015. Brewin also initiated a yearly family holiday "walkabout" show at the

Evergreen Brickworks The Don Valley Brick Works (often referred to as the Evergreen Brick Works) is a former quarry and industrial site located in the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Don Valley Brick Works operated for nearly 100 years and provided ...

, partly inspired by her outdoor work at Caravan Theatre. The first walkabout show was Ross's ''The Story'', a retelling of the Nativity, in 2011. ''The Story'' was repeated as the company's 2012 outdoor holiday show. Brewin, alongside Palmer, MacDonald, Cherniak, Ross, created a sequel to ''The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls'' called ''More Fine Girls'', which premiered in 2011. Brewin assistant directed the premiere at

Tarragon Theatre The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country.

. In 2013, Brewin directed Natasha Greenblatt's ''The Peace Maker''. The Common Boots 2013 holiday show was ''Weather The Weather, Or How We Make it Home Together'' written by Haley McGee and directed by Brewin. In 2014, Common Boots, under Brewin's artistic direction, launched their first Minister’s Play, a take on ''

The Vicar of Dibley ''The Vicar of Dibley'' is a British sitcom which originally ran on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2007. It is set in a fictional small Oxfordshire village called Dibley, which is assigned a female vicar following the 1992 changes ...

'', as a fundraised for the company's new play development program. This fundraising initiative was reprised in 2015, featuring another version of the play, this time, by Arthur Milner. Brewin directed Ross' ''The Dog and the Angel'' as Common Boots' 2014 walkabout holiday show. In 2015, Brewin directed

Linda Griffiths Linda Pauline Griffiths (7 October 1953 – 21 September 2014) was a Canadian actress and playwright best known for writing and starring in the one woman play ''Maggie and Pierre'', in which she portrayed both Pierre Trudeau and his then-estran ...

' ''Age of Arousal'' at Factory Theatre. Later that year, she directed ''Tails From The City'' (by Marjorie Chan) as Common Boots' outdoor holiday show. At the 2019

Toronto Fringe Festival The Toronto Fringe Festival is an annual theatre festival, featuring un-juried plays by unknown or well-known artists, taking place in the theatres of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Several productions originally mounted at the Fringe have later been ...

, Brewin co-directed (with

Alex Bulmer Alex Bulmer is a Canadian playwright and theatre artist. Bulmer is the co-founder of the theatre companies SNIFF Inc. and Invisible Flash. She wrote the play ''Smudge'' and was a writer for the 2009 Channel 4 series ''Cast Offs''. Early life and ...

) ''Scadding'', a show consisting of six short audio plays, including one written by Brewin herself. Later in 2019, Brewin directed Natasha Greenblatt and

Yolanda Bonnell Yolanda Bonnell is a Canadian actress and playwright. She is most noted for her play ''Bug'', which was a Governor General's Award nominee for English-language drama at the 2020 Governor General's Awards. Early life and education An Anishina ...

's ''The Election'' at

Nightwood Theatre Nightwood Theatre is Canada's oldest professional women's theatre and is based in Toronto. It was founded in 1979 by Cynthia Grant, Kim Renders, Mary Vingoe, and Maureen White and was originally a collective. Though it was not the founders' ori ...

. Brewin was appointed artistic director of Regina's Globe Theatre in fall 2020, succeeding interim artistic director, Geoffrey Whynot. Much of her premiere season was cancelled due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

restrictions. Her first live theatre production as artistic director was a series of ghost tours. Brewin created a purely audio version of Ross's ''The Story'', which she had previously directed with both Caravan Theatre and Common Boots.

Plays

* ''

'' (1995) – co-created with Martha Ross,

, and

* ''More Fine Girls'' (2011) – co-created with Martha Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Alisa Palmer, and Leah Cherniak * ''The Public Servant'' (2015) – co-created with Sarah McVie, Amy Rutherford, and

Haley McGee Haley McGee is a Canadian actress, writer and comedian based in London. McGee is best known for her role as Dorothy Skerritt, the personal assistant to Nikola Tesla in the '' Doctor Who'' episode ''Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror''. She is also kno ...

* ''Scadding'' (2019) – co-created with

, Leah Cherniak, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, John Gzowski, Maggie Huculak, Anand Rajaram, Jenny Salisbury and Stephon Smith

Personal life

Brewin is working on her MFA in

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

. She lives in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

with her husband Arthur Milner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewin, Jennifer Date of birth missing (living people) Canadian artistic directors 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Canadian theatre directors Queen's University at Kingston alumni University of Calgary alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)