Hinterviews with Peter Hinton

It all starts when God sets the universe in motion. Then comes the story of Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Noah, and Moses as the Old Testament comes alive through the madcap imagination of Peter Anderson – and the magic of last season’s nativity is brought to life once again. Songs by Allen Cole contribute the musical complement to the serpent’s temptation, the menagerie of animals boarding the Ark, and all the episodes of this modern “mystery play.” Not quite the King James Bible, but definitely entertaining.

Dreaming dreams, hoping for success, facing reality. That’s the funny and touching story of Ted and Richard—whiz kids who want to become superstar pianists—and how they survive piano teachers, pushy parents, hours of practice, stage fright, and nerve-wracking competitions. Will they gain fame and fortune? Come find out as we mark the 15th anniversary of this wildly popular show, with more than two million delighted fans in 150 cities worldwide.

A Special Celebrity Hinterview, a tradition and an audience favourite, where Peter Hinton, Artistic Director chats with a guest artist involved with a production at the NAC. As a special treat for the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Peter Hinton will interview Don McKellar and Greg Morrison, two of the minds behind the recent Broadway hit, The Drowsy Chaperone. On Saturday, June 5, patrons of the Festival can become one of the artists as well. Musical Director Greg Morrison and Writer Don McKellar will have an afternoon Choir Practice. Festival patrons can learn and sing along to the songs from The Drowsy Chaperone.

Peter speaks with Iris Turcott, Dramturg for BILLY TWINKLE, Requiem for a Golden Boy and for Ronnie Burkett's internationally acclaimed Theatre of Marionettes.. Iris has been the company dramaturge at the Canadian Stage Company , and she has been a freelance dramaturge, director and actor, working with playwrights from coast to coast including Adam Pettle, Joan MacLeod, Michel Marc Bouchard, Brad Fraser, Judith Thompson, Sunil Kuruvilla and Tomson Highway. She has been involved in a number of international co-commissions including the Royal Exchange in Manchester, the Melbourne Festival and the Abbey Theatre.

To mark the second anniversary of the NAC's Celebrity Speakers series, here is an encore presentation of the inaugural edition with very special guest, Paul Gross and host, Laurie Brown.

Known foremost as an actor, Canadian Paul Gross is also a writer, producer and director. His portrayal of Constable Benton Fraser on Due South, a drama series he co-wrote and executive produced, won international acclaim. His directorial debut, Men with Brooms, broke Canadian box office records. Paul was the recipient of a Golden Nymph Award for Best Lead Actor at the Monte Carlo Television Festival for his role in H2O, a Whizbang mini-series that he also co-wrote and executive produced. For his portrayal of Geoffrey Tenant in the critically acclaimed series Slings & Arrows, Paul recently picked up his fourth Gemini Award. He portrayed Romeo and garnered a Dora Award, and a career highlight was playing Hamlet to record-breaking audiences at the Stratford Festival in 2000. Paul served as Playwright-in-residence at Stratford and the National Arts Centre and has won numerous playwriting and screenwriting awards. Currently Paul Gross is producing the sequel to H2O, Trojan Horse which he also co-wrote and will star in. He is also preparing to direct Passchendaele, a feature film script which he penned to pay tribute to the sacrifice made by Canadian Soldiers in the World War I

Peter speaks with Leah Cherniak, the Co-Artistic Director (with Martha Ross) of Theatre Columbus in Toronto. The company has created over 30 new plays and also has an excellent reputation for innovative productions of classics. Leah studied theatre at École Jacques Lecoq in Paris, and currently teaches an intensive clown course for the Ryerson Theatre Program. She also teaches at George Brown College, York University and the National Theatre School in Montreal.

Laura Denker interviews Alison Lawrence on the subject of her play "And All for Love". Set in 1660, following the restoration of the monarchy, And All for Love is a new play that explores the friendship between the celebrated actress Elizabeth Barry and the not-so-celebrated actress Winifred Gosnell (also housemaid to the diarist Samuel Pepys.) Between them stands Edward Kynaston, the great actor once famous for his portrayals of women. A romantic comedy that celebrates what two women did for the love of the theatre, and for the love of their lives.

Peter Hinton is in conversation with Rick Chafe on the subject of his play, Shakespeare's Dog.

Hooker is a dog with a gift for sniffing out "soul". When his master, the young William Shakespeare, becomes entangled in domestic difficulties and possibly a crime, he quickly understands it’s up to him to ensure that the playwright follows his fortune to the London stage. A tour de force of inventive wit, Shakespeare’s Dog features a kennel’s-worth of unforgettable characters, both canine and human. A gritty, growling look at the life and influences of the greatest playwright in the English language.

Peter Hinton in conversation with Yvette Nolann

Shakespeare’s tale of Julius Caesar is unearthed … this time on native ground. "We struggle to find some kind of self-government, to achieve some kind of self-determination, we’re working with very flawed systems and very flawed tools and that’s a hard thing. I guess that’s why this story is so fascinating to us, because if we can work it out in this play then maybe we can work it out in our lives too." — Yvette Nolan

The tables are turned this month as dramaturge Paula Dankert interviews Peter Hinton on his NAC production of Macbeth. Director, playwright and dramaturge Peter Hinton has been an integral part of the Canadian theatre landscape for over twenty years. In November 2005, he took the helm as Artistic Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre in Ottawa, where he recently announced his second season. During his tenure as Associate Artist of the Stratford Festival of Canada, his trilogy of three full length plays entitled The Swanne premiered to great critical and audience acclaim. Mr. Hinton has written the librettos to two operas with composer Peter Hannan, and has a number of published critical essays to his credit. He is also a respected teacher.

Laurie Brown interviews Margaret Atwood on the occasion of the world premiere of The Penelopiad at the National Arts Centre. Margaret Atwood is an international literary star. In her thematically diverse and best-selling novels, she has anticipated, explored—and even changed—the popular preoccupations of our time. Writing about issues on both a personal and worldly scale with a knife-edge precision, Atwood has been called, by The Sunday Times, "one of the most inventive, enthralling and accomplished authors writing in English."

Marie Clements is an award-winning Métis performer, playwright, screenwriter, director, producer and founding Artistic Director of urban ink Productions. Her ten plays including Burning Vision, The Unnatural and Accidental Women, and Urban Tattoo have been presented on some of the most prestigious stages for Canadian and international work including the Festival de Theatre des Ameriques (Urban Tattoo 2001, Burning Vision 2003) in Montreal, and The Magnetic North Festival (Burning Vision 2003) in Ottawa, and have garnered awards including 2004 Canada-Japan Award, short listed for the 2004 Governor General's Literary Award, Jessie Richardson Awards and a Jack Webster Journalism nomination. As a writer Marie has worked in a variety of mediums including theatre, performance, film, multi-media, radio, and television. Her latest writing projects include her film Unnatural and Accidental invited to premiere at over fifteen film festivals including The MoMa Festival in New York, Toronto Film Festival, The Vancouver Film Festival and The American Indian Film Festival 2006. Currently Unnatural and Accidental has received ten nominations for the prestigious Leo Awards including Best Screenplay. As a producer and director Marie has been involved in the development of over seventy productions of new work across forms and disciplines. Copper Thunderbird will be published by Talon Books Fall 2007. She is currently Playwright in Residence at the National Arts Centre.

Laurie Brown interviews Michael Ondaatje. Although he is best known as a novelist for his extraordinary, multiple award-winning The English Patient and its quasi-prequel In the Skin of a Lion, to name only two, Michael Ondaatje's prolific work also encompasses memoir, poetry, and film. He won the Governor General's Award for two books of poetry: The Collected Works of Billy the Kid and There's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning To Do: Poems 1973Ð1978, and his three films include a documentary on fellow poet bp nichol, entitled The Sons of Captain Poetry. Michael Ondaatje has been the recipient of the Booker Prize, the Canada Australia Prize, four Governor General's Awards, the Giller Prize and the Prix Médicis. In 1988 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is considered by many to be something of a national treasure, and we're delighted that he'll be sharing his thoughtful, often provocative and always fascinating insights with us as part of this series.

NAC English Theatre Communications Officer Laura Denker interviews Nadia Ross, artistic director of STO Union Theatre Company and George Acheson, her collaborator and the subject of the production 7 Important Things. Nadia and George discuss their backgrounds, theatrical and otherwise, as well as their creative process with this play and in general. 7 Important Things closes out the NAC English Theatre Studio4 series with a run in the Studio May 10 to 19 with a Pay What You Can performance on May 7 and two previews, May 8 and 9.

Martin Julien, actor and playwright, is Peter's special guest on this edition of the Hinterviews. Martin Julien is an actor and playwright who has appeared on stages across the country for the last thirty years. He will be remembered by Ottawa audiences for his superb portrayal of Cornell Tremble III in Allen Cole’s The Wrong Son which opened Peter Hinton’s inaugural English Theatre Season last September. Directing this world premiere production is Diana Leblanc, whose work audiences will remember from the NAC/Neptune Theatre coproduction of Copenhagen and, more recently, the NAC/Soulpepper production of The Real Thing.

NAC English Theatre publicist Laura Denker leads you through an in-depth look at Martin Julien's The Unanswered Question, the next play in the Studio4 Series. Laura interviews playwright Martin Julien, director Diana Leblanc and actors Tom McCamus, Chick Reid and Graeme Somerville, giving you an insider's view of the process and practices of these extraordinary artists and their work on this world premiere performance. The Unanswered Question draws on Leonard Bernstein's celebrated Harvard Lectures of the same name to examine the complicated triangle of a famous American conductor/composer, his actress wife, and the younger man who comes between them. The play runs from March 8 to March 17 in the NAC Studio.

Ann-Marie MacDonald's first novel, Fall On Your Knees, became a Canadian and international publishing sensation with upwards of one million copies sold. Along with critical acclaim, the book won the prestigious Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, became an Oprah Book Club selection, and has been sold in over 20 countries. Her second novel, The Way the Crow Flies, was another instant bestseller that has received international acclaim. Her works for the theatre include the play Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), which has enjoyed more than a hundred productions worldwide. Ann Marie has also acted extensively on stage and screen, where her work has garnered many awards, including the Gemini. Most recently, her play Belle Moral: A Natural History ran this past summer at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Never one to mince her words, Ann-Marie is sure to provide a provocative glimpse into the Artist in Society. We’re honoured that she will be joining us.

Peter interviews Brian Quirt, founder and Artistic Director of Toronto's Nightswimming theatre, an award-winning dramaturgical theatre company that develops new plays, performance works and dance, but does not produce them itself. Brian is also the director of Rough House, Andy Massingham's extraordinary piece of silent theatre, featured as part of the NAC English Theatre 2006-2007 season in the Studio.

Known foremost as an actor, Canadian Paul Gross is also a writer, producer and director. His portrayal of Constable Benton Fraser on Due South, a drama series he co-wrote and executive produced, won international acclaim. His directorial debut, Men with Brooms, broke Canadian box office records. Paul was the recipient of a Golden Nymph Award for Best Lead Actor at the Monte Carlo Television Festival for his role in H2O, a Whizbang mini-series that he also co-wrote and executive produced. For his portrayal of Geoffrey Tenant in the critically acclaimed series Slings & Arrows, Paul recently picked up his fourth Gemini Award. He portrayed Romeo and garnered a Dora Award, and a career highlight was playing Hamlet to record-breaking audiences at the Stratford Festival in 2000. Paul served as Playwright-in-residence at Stratford and the National Arts Centre and has won numerous playwriting and screenwriting awards. Currently Paul Gross is producing the sequel to H2O, Trojan Horse which he also co-wrote and will star in. He is also preparing to direct Passchendaele, a feature film script which he penned to pay tribute to the sacrifice made by Canadian Soldiers in the World War I

An innovative mathematician who spends much of his time on JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies), a program he developed that contends every child can master math, Mighton is unusual in combining his mathematics career with theatre. Also a celebrated playwright, he is a Governor General’s Award Winner and the recipient of the prestigious Siminovitch Prize for playwriting. From the author of Half Life, Possible Worlds and Body and Soul, our production of The Little Years marks the first mainstage revival of this beautiful play. Directed by one of Toronto’s most innovative directors and featuring an extraordinary cast of some the best actresses from across the country, this is a unique and important production.