Theatre Projects Manitoba (TPM) is a professional theatre company based in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
,
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
. It was founded in 1990 by playwright
Harry Rintoul
Harry Rintoul (December 9, 1956 - January 14, 2002) was a Canadian playwright and theatre director. He was best known for his 1990 play ''Brave Hearts'', which was noted as one of the first significant gay-themed plays in Canadian theatre history t ...
in response to the perceived need for a strong local professional company to provide opportunities for Manitoban artists and to put local stories on the stage. With close ties to the Manitoba Association of Playwrights (MAP) and a passionate faith in this region’s playwrights, TPM was established as the only professional company dedicated to producing the works of Manitoba playwrights. Since its creation TPM has produced more than 50 new Manitoba works, as well as presenting new work from across the country. Theatre Projects Manitoba is a member of PACT, the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.
History
Theatre Projects Manitoba was founded by playwright Harry Rintoul in 1990 in an effort to solve what he and others viewed as the problem of limited opportunities for local professional theatre artists to work in Manitoba. In its first season Theatre Projects presented the Manitoba premiere of
Michel Tremblay
Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a French-Canadian novelist and playwright.
Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood wit ...
's '' Albertine in Five Times'' and plays by two local playwrights, David Demchuck and Ellen Peterson. The next season included the homegrown work of Michael Nathanson, who would go on to garner a Governor General's Award nomination for his play ''Talk'' and become the artistic director of
Winnipeg Jewish Theatre
Winnipeg Jewish Theatre is a theatre based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was founded in 1987 and is the only professional theatre in Canada dedicated to Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious ...
, followed by
Vern Thiessen
Vern Thiessen (born c. 1964) is a Canadian playwright.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Thiessen studied at the University of Winnipeg and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He later attended the University of Alberta, where he obtained a Master of ...
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, and
Yvette Nolan
Yvette Nolan (Algonquian peoples, Algonquin) (1961) is a Canadians, Canadian playwright, director, actor, and educator based out of Saskatchewan, Canada. She was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She has contributed significantly to the creati ...
, who went on to head Canada's leading aboriginal company,
Native Earth Performing Arts
Native Earth Performing Arts is a Canadian theatre company located in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1982, Native Earth is Canada's oldest professional Indigenous theatre company. Native Earth is dedicated to developing, producing and presenting pro ...
, in Toronto from 2003 to 2011.
In 2015 Theatre Projects opened its 25th season with
Michael Healey
Michael Healey is a Canadian playwright and actor. He graduated from the acting programme at Toronto's Ryerson Theatre School in 1985. His acting credits include the plays of Jason Sherman (''The League of Nathans'', ''Reading Hebron'' and ''Thr ...
's ''Proud'' and closed it with
Nassim Soleimanpour
Nassim Soleimanpour (born 10 December 1981 (19 Azar 1360 SH), is an Iranian playwright. He is best known for his 2010 play ''White Rabbit Red Rabbit''.
Early life and education
Soleimanpour was born in Tehran, Iran.
Harry Rintoul (1990 - 1994)
B. Pat Burns (1994-1995)
Bruce Mcmanus (1995-2000)
Margo Charlton (2000-2002)
Ken Brand (2002-2005)
Ardith Boxall (2005–Present)