Jennifer Brewin

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.[1]

The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls, a collective creation with Brewin, Martha Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Alisa Palmer, and Leah Cherniak, premiered in 1995. Brewin was credited as a dramaturg of this production.[2] By the time the show was re-staged in 1997, Brewin was referred to as a "contributing artist".[3]

Brewin directed Larry Lewis's Irreleva in 1996 at Theatre Centre West.[4] Between 1998 and 2005, Brewin was co-artistic director of Caravan Farm Theatre in British Columbia.[5] While working with Caravan Farm Theatre, Brewin wrote and directed twelve outdoor theatre productions.[6]

In 2010, Brewin succeeded Cherniak and Ross and became artistic director of Common Boots Theatre, formerly known as Theatre Columbus.[7] 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.[5] Brewin also initiated a yearly family holiday "walkabout" show at the Evergreen Brickworks, partly inspired by her outdoor work at Caravan Theatre.[7] The first walkabout show was Ross's The Story, a retelling of the Nativity, in 2011.[8] The Story was repeated as the company's 2012 outdoor holiday show.[9]

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.[10] Brewin assistant directed the premiere at Tarragon Theatre.[11]

In 2013, Brewin directed Natasha Greenblatt's The Peace Maker.[12] 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.[9] In 2014, Common Boots, under Brewin's artistic direction, launched their first Minister’s Play, a take on The Vicar of Dibley, as a fundraised for the company's new play development program.[13] This fundraising initiative was reprised in 2015, featuring another version of the play, this time, by Arthur Milner.[14] Brewin directed Ross' The Dog and the Angel as Common Boots' 2014 walkabout holiday show.[15] In 2015, Brewin directed Linda Griffiths' Age of Arousal at Factory Theatre.[16] Later that year, she directed Tails From The City (by Marjorie Chan) as Common Boots' outdoor holiday show.[17]

At the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival, Brewin co-directed (with Alex Bulmer) Scadding, a show consisting of six short audio plays, including one written by Brewin herself.[18] Later in 2019, Brewin directed Natasha Greenblatt and Yolanda Bonnell's The Election at Nightwood Theatre.[19]

Brewin was appointed artistic director of Regina's Globe Theatre in fall 2020, succeeding interim artistic director, Geoffrey Whynot.[20] Much of her premiere season was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.[21] Her first live theatre production as artistic director was a series of ghost tours.[22] Brewin created a purely audio version of Ross's The Story, which she had previously directed with both Caravan Theatre and Common Boots.[23]

• The Attic, the Pearls and Three Fine Girls (1995) – co-created with Martha Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Alisa Palmer, and Leah Cherniak
• 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[24]
• Scadding (2019) – co-created with Alex Bulmer, Leah Cherniak, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, John Gzowski, Maggie Huculak, Anand Rajaram, Jenny Salisbury and Stephon Smith

Brewin is working on her MFA in radio drama at the University of Calgary.[20][25] She lives in Regina, Saskatchewan with her husband Arthur Milner.