Sarasvati Productions

Sarasvati Productions was founded in 1998 in Toronto and permanently relocated to Winnipeg in 2000. The company was founded by Hope McIntyre who named it after the Hindu goddess, Saraswati.[1]

In 2003, Sarasvati launched their International Women's Week Cabaret of Monologues.[2] The cabaret features monologues from local artists pertaining to the annual theme.[3] In 2008, the Cabaret of Monologues expanded to include touring across Manitoba.[4] In 2017, Sarasvati relaunched their One Night Stand series. One Night Stand features ten-minute snippets from plays written by local playwrights.[5]

In 2020, McIntyre stepped down as artistic director and Frances Koncan was appointed the incoming artistic director.[6] Koncan resigned in March 2021.[7] In 2023, the Board of Directors announced the closure of the company.[8]

FemFest was founded in 2003.[9] The Winnipeg Free Press described FemFest as "Canada’s main festival for female playwrights".[10] FemFest is a two-week festival that features plays and readings from female playwrights from Manitoba and around the world.[11][12]

The festival also features the annual Bake Off competition, in partnership with the Manitoba Association of Playwrights. Bake Off launched in 2012 and features several local playwrights who create ten-minute scenes with a surprise set of three "ingredients".[11] The playwrights are given eight hours to write their scenes.[9] The winning playwright receives dramaturgical assistance to develop their scene into a full play which will then receive a staged reading at the next FemFest.[13]

FemFest celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2012 from September 15 to 22. The theme of this iteration of the festival was "Staging Identity". This FemFest was decidedly national and featured artists from Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal in addition to Winnipeg-based artists.[14] As part of the 2017 FemFest, Sarasvati collaborated with the Winnipeg Public Library to create a Human Library, partially inspired by Denmark's Human Library. The "library" featured 24 human books.[15]

Sarasvati generally produces only one main-stage show per year in addition to its programming with FemFest, the Cabaret of Monologues, and One Night Stand.[14]

• Hunger by Hope McIntyre (1998)[16]
• Revisioning by Hope McIntyre (1999)[16]
• Missiah by Hope McIntyre (2000)[16]
• Death of Love by Hope McIntyre (2001)[16]
• Fire Visions: Poems by Bertolt Brecht (2002)[16]
• One for the Road by Harold Pinter (2003)[16]
• You Whore (2003) - collective creation, performed at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival[16]
• Jill's War by Victoria Loa Hicks and Nancy Kruh (2004) - performed at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival[16]
• Impromptu of Outremont by Michel Tremblay (2005)[16]
• Ripple Effect by Hope McIntyre (2008) - touring production at various Manitoba high schools[17]
• Bone Cage by Catherine Banks (2009) - reading, part of Carol Shields Festival of New Works[17]
• Fen by Caryl Churchill (2010)[17]
• Eden by Hope McIntyre (2012) - directed by Sharon Bajer
• Jail Baby by Hope McIntyre and Cairn Moore with Nan Fewchuk and Marsha Knight (2013) - directed by Ann Hodges
• Fefu and Her Friends by María Irene Fornés (2014) - directed by Hope McIntyre[12]
• Giving Voice (2014) - created with VOICES: Manitoba's Youth in Care Network, touring production at Manitoba high schools[18]
• Miss N Me by Catherine Banks (2015) - directed by Hope McIntyre[19]
• Shattered (2016)[1]
• Breaking Through (2017) - directed by Kevin Klassen[20]
• New Beginnings (2018) - directed by Cherissa Richards[21]