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What. A. Year.
With your support, and the incredible Manitoba Association of Playwrights, we were able to spend a full day workshopping Virginia Page Jähne's RinseWashRepeat this spring. Directed by Andraea Sartison and featuring Tracy Penner, Kim Zeglinski and our own Daina Leitold, we were then able to present a section of the script at PTE's Festival Of New Works. We presented the same scene with two different formats, soliciting feedback from the audience. Virginia appreciated hearing feedback from all those who were present, and we look forward to seeing where she takes the script next!
July was the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, where we brought Rachel Blair's intense A Man Walks Into A Bar to one of Canada's biggest festivals. Derek Leenhouts took the reins to direct his first full-length project, supported by Robyn Pooley. Mel Marginet and Karl Thordarson garnered rave reviews performing Rachel Blair's rapid-fire take on gender and power. Playing to full houses and multiple sell-outs, we heard the script sparked much post-show-beer-tent discussion, and we were thrilled to get you talking!
In September, we officially established our Endowment Fund with The Winnipeg Foundation! Thank you to everyone who helped to make our first fundraising campaign a success. We are grateful for the long-term support this fund will provide. If you'd like to contribute, click here!
Finally, to close 2019 we were honoured to produce Keith Barker's hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking The Hours That Remain. Directed by the legendary Tracey Nepinak, this project gave a much needed voice and space to the struggles families endure in the wake of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls tragedy in Canada. Thank you to Prairie Theatre Exchange who extended us a welcome as Company In Residence, providing a home in the Colin Jackson Studio. With lighting design from Sean E. McMullen, set & costume design by renowned artist Jaime Black and an incredible soundscape from Kelsey Braun to match grounded, powerful performances from Melanie Dean, Kelsey Kanatan Wavey and Darcy Fehr, this project was described by the Winnipeg Free Press as "imperative theatre." We could not have produced this show without Wa-Say Healing Centre, who sent support workers to the performances to support anyone in need during or following the project. Thank you also to Mitch Bourbonnaire, Bernadette Smith, Tina Keeper, Issa Kixen and Frances Koncan who took part in the Speaker Series, allowing audiences to delve deeper into the themes of the play following select performances.
2019 also saw us building our Strategic Plan, working with fellow WIT companies to grow a strong, indie theatre scene, and applying for funding to support the next phase of the GladToBeHere project.
Thank you so much for your contribution to Theatre by the River in 2019. We were honoured to have you set aside time to attend our projects, donate to support our work and reach out to share your feedback. Being part of such a passionate, engaged and dynamic community inspires us to keep moving forward to create theatre to get you talking. We plan on keeping it up in 2020, and we hope you join us for the ride!
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Donors are the heart and soul of the arts scene, and we couldn't be here without their generosity. From $20 to $1,000, every dollar makes an incredible difference!
Join us in saluting our 2019 donors: Rick Borchert, Linda Komus, Adele Kory and Gordon Andrus, Daina Leitold, Kevin Longfield, Mel Marginet, Diane Marginet, Virginia Page Jähne, Nicole Roach, Craig Russell, Robert Schuppel, Karl Thordarson, Mary Agnes Welch, Allan & Mavis Whicker, Armin Wiebe, Steve Yurkiw, The Gail Asper Family Foundation and Sixth Planet Productions. Thank you also to our anonymous donors!
Our Lead Sponsor in 2019 was The Johnston Group; Supporting Sponsors were Assiniboine Credit Union and Great Plains Publications; Ensemble Sponsorship was provided by Red River Cooperative.
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Theatre by the River engages professional artists in its work, including members of Canadian Actors Equity and IATSE. We strive to pay a living wage to all artists who work on our projects. As such, we are deeply grateful to The Winnipeg Foundation, The Winnipeg Arts Council and the Manitoba Arts Council for their project support.
Companies like Theatre by the River cannot exist without the vital resoures provided by these funders. We encourage you to become a member of Manitobans For The Arts, and to advocate for arts funding at the municipal, provincial and federal level. Funding in both Winnipeg and Manitoba has not kept pace with inflation, and is well behind other municipalities and provinces in the country. We are finding it more difficult to cobble together project support each year, and we see our peers struggling as well. We need citizens like you to be a voice for arts funding!
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Dear <<First Name>>,
You are essential to ensuring independent, professional companies like Theatre by the River continue to contribute to the cultural life of this city. Because of you, we can support playwrights like Virginia Page Jähne and Ginny Collins to create stories right here in Manitoba. Thanks to our donors, we were able to invite high school students from indigenous study and theatre programs to attend The Hours That Remain for free.
We are so grateful to all of our donors, you are our heroes! Would you like to make a charitable donation as we bid adieu to 2019? No matter the dollar amount, whether it's $20 or $1,000, your contribution is vital and much appreciated. Donate today!
Thank you for everything,
The Board & Artistic Company
Theatre by the River
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