Jennifer Wynne Webber

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Jennifer Wynne Webber (born in Ottawa, Ontario)[1] is a Canadian writer, actor,[2][3] dramaturge,[4] journalist,[5] and television producer currently living and working on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Career[edit]

Webber has a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and a degree in history from the University of Saskatchewan.[6]

Her most well-known work to date is her play With Glowing Hearts: How Ordinary Women Worked Together to Change the World (And Did) about Canadian miners' wives in Kirkland Lake, Ontario who were galvanized into becoming labour activists.[7][8] Their role in the labour strike of 1941–1942 was crucial in changing Canadian labour laws to require employers to recognize and bargain with unions.[9][10] Originally, the play was commissioned in 2016 by Elizabeth Quinlan at the University of Saskatchewan to create an original work based on the role of women in Canada's labour movement, which was one of Quinlan's areas of research.[11]

An early one-act version of the play was named "Best of the Fest" at the Saskatoon Fringe Theatre Festival in 2016.[12] A new full length version was named "Outstanding Original Script" at the 2019 Saskatoon and Area Theatre Awards (SATAs).[13] Webber is a member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada.

Barb Byers, Member of the Order of Canada, former Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress praised Webber for With Glowing Hearts: How Ordinary Women Worked Together to Change the World (And Did): “Your heart will glow with pride in our history and fill with hope for our future... Go celebrate this true story and leave inspired and challenged.”[14] A reading of With Glowing Hearts was held on March 5, 2020 at the University of Saskatchewan as part of an advance celebration of International Women's Day organized by the University of Saskatchewan Faculty Association (USFA).[15]

A staged reading of her play Wild Geese, directed by David Mann and presented by TheatreOne, was held at the Port Theatre lobby in Nanaimo, British Columbia in June 2019.[16][17][18] The play is based upon her experience caring for her mother.[19]

Webber's first book was a novel entitled, Defying Gravity, published in 2000 by Coteau Books. It tells the story of Miranda, a television news producer from Edmonton, who ends up on a life-changing road trip with a young East Indian who is planning to enter the priesthood, and the story also features a refugee from the Rwandan genocide.[20][21] In her review of the novel for the Quill & Quire, Barbra Leslie wrote, "It recounts a cynical woman's search for spiritual or religious meaning, and it's good: a dry, quiet Canadian Beat tale."[22] Defying Gravity was nominated for three Saskatchewan Book Awards, including Book of the Year.[23]

Webber has also worked extensively in broadcast journalism and video production. For 13 years she worked for The Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC). Webber co-hosted "Alberta Express," a popular, award-winning provincial CBC television program, and in the mid 1990s she worked for CBC Television in Calgary, covering the arts.[24][25][26]

Works[edit]

Plays[edit]

  • Beside Myself, 2001
  • Peaches & Cream, 2005
  • White Lies,[27] 2014 (Formerly titled "Whistling at the Northern Lights"[28][29] and "Memento Mori")
  • With Glowing Hearts: How Ordinary Women Worked Together to Change the World (And Did), 2019[30]

Fiction[edit]

Theatre Acting Roles[edit]

Awards[edit]

  • "One of Canada's Top Five New Plays" Neue Theaterstücke aus Kanada (playwrighting competition in Berlin, Germany), 2007[38]
  • SATAward for "Outstanding Original Script" (Saskatoon and Area Theatre Awards), Winner, 2019
  • SATAward for "Outstanding Production," Winner, 2019[39]
  • "Best of the Fest," Saskatoon Fringe Theatre Festival, 2019[40]
  • Saskatchewan Book Awards, "Book of the Year," Nominee, 2000[41]
  • Saskatchewan Book Awards, "First Book," Nominee, 2000

References[edit]

  1. ^ "With Glowing Hearts". Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  2. ^ "The Weir – Review Vancouver". Review Vancouver. n.d.
  3. ^ "Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan". shakespearesask.com. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  4. ^ Day, Moira Jean (2011). West-words: Celebrating Western Canadian Theatre and Playwriting. University of Regina Press. p. 127. ISBN 9780889772359.
  5. ^ "Beside Myself". Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  6. ^ "Profile | Playwrights Guild of Canada". Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  7. ^ Olsen, Matt (May 7, 2019). "Preview: Women in labour history given life on stage in With Glowing Hearts". Saskatoon Star Phoenix. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  8. ^ "Profile: Jennifer Wynne Webber". Playwrights Guild of Canada. n.d.
  9. ^ . January 13, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180113150330/https://council.caut.ca/docs/default-source/council-83/meeting-materials/12-doc-2-elizabeth-quinlan---biography-(council-2017-11).pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 13, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2020. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ^ Boklaschuk, Shannon (April 16, 2019). "Play Highlights Women's Contributions to Labour Movement". Saskatoon Express.
  11. ^ "Dancing Sky Theatre presents With Glowing Hearts". artsandscience.usask.ca. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  12. ^ "Best of Fringe plays announced". Saskatoon StarPhoenix. August 3, 2016.
  13. ^ "2019 Nominees and Recipients". SATAwards. n.d.
  14. ^ "With Glowing Hearts by Jennifer Wynne Webber". Canadian Play Outlet. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  15. ^ "February 2020". ASPA Advocate. February 26, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  16. ^ Jacobson, Josef (June 13, 2019). "Nanaimo Playwright Presents Stages Reading of Newest Play at Port Theatre".
  17. ^ "TheatreOne's Staged Reading of Wild Geese". n.d.
  18. ^ "Wild Geese". TheatreOne. n.d.
  19. ^ "Nanaimo playwright presents staged reading of newest play at Port Theatre". Nanaimo News Bulletin. June 13, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  20. ^ "27 May 2000, 52 - Star-Phoenix at Newspapers.com". Retrieved April 6, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Defying Gravity". Quill and Quire. February 23, 2004. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  22. ^ "Defying Gravity". Quill and Quire. February 23, 2004. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  23. ^ "Archived Nominees – Saskatchewan Book Awards". bookawards.sk.ca. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  24. ^ "With Glowing Hearts by Jennifer Wynne Webber". Playwrights Guild of Canada. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  25. ^ Jennifer Wynne Webber: $100 Film Festival (1993), retrieved March 13, 2020
  26. ^ "Profile | Playwrights Guild of Canada". Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  27. ^ Webber, Jennifer Wynne (Summer 2014). "White Lies". Ryga: A Journal of Provocations. 7.
  28. ^ "Northern lights in the Big Apple" (PDF). The Arts – Saskatchewan Arts Board 2010–2011 Annual Report: 7. 2011.
  29. ^ ""West-words" into the 21st Century". sites.ualberta.ca. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  30. ^ Jacobson, Josef (April 10, 2018). "TheatreOne stages 'With Glowing Hearts' by local playwright at Malaspina Theatre". Nanaimo News Bulletin. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  31. ^ "Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada on February 22, 1996 · 64". February 22, 1996. Retrieved March 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan". shakespearesask.com. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  33. ^ "The Merry Wives of Windsor (2001, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan) :: Shakespeare in Performance :: Internet Shakespeare Editions". internetshakespeare.uvic.ca. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  34. ^ "Arts Club Theatre Company Archives". archives.artsclub.com. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  35. ^ O'Connor, J.; Goodland, K. (April 30, 2016). A Directory of Shakespeare in Performance Since 1991: Volume 3, USA and Canada. Springer. ISBN 978-1-349-58788-9.
  36. ^ "Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan". shakespearesask.com. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  37. ^ "MonTheatre.qc.ca – Centaur – Real Estate". montheatre.qc.ca. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  38. ^ "Profile | Playwrights Guild of Canada". Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  39. ^ "Jennifer Wynne Webber". Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  40. ^ "Best of Fringe plays announced". Saskatoon StarPhoenix. August 3, 2016.
  41. ^ "Archived Nominees – Saskatchewan Book Awards". bookawards.sk.ca. Retrieved March 7, 2020.

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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