Jackie Maxwell (born 1956) is an Irish-born Canadian

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and

dramaturge A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

. She was the artistic director of the

Shaw Festival The Shaw Festival is a Charitable organization, Charitable theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America, second only to Canada's Strat ...

from 2002 to 2016.

Early life and education

Maxwell was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Her mother was an English and drama teacher and her father was a bookie. By the time Maxwell was nine, she became involved with the Youth Group of the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. In 1974, she began an honours degree in drama at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, England. While working as an usher at

Contact Theatre Contact is an arts organisation based in Manchester, England. Established in 1972, as a center for young artists to create and learn, the theatre remains in its original building and is a part of the Arts Council England, the University of Man ...

in England, Maxwell me the man who would become her husband, Canadian actor

Benedict Campbell Benedict Campbell (born June 12, 1957) is a Canadian actor whose work has consisted primarily of providing voices for television cartoons, video games and acting on stage, particularly at Canada's Stratford Festival between 1965 and 2000. Early in ...

. In January 1978, Campbell was offered a contract with the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

to perform ''

Troilus and Cressida ''The Tragedy of Troilus and Cressida'', often shortened to ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ), is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forc ...

''; Maxwell accompanied him back to Canada.

Career

After moving to Canada, Maxwell became involved with the Canadian theatre scene, working as a director at the

.Jackie Maxwell
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

, accessed September 1, 2019 John Wood gave Maxwell several assistant director positions before offering her a solo-directed show. Maxwell chose to direct ''The Changeling'', starring Martha Burns. When Bob White, the then-artistic direct of

Factory Theatre Factory Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded as Factory Theatre Lab in 1970 by Ken Gass and Frank Trotz, and it was run for almost 20 years by Dian English. Factory theatre was the first to anno ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, went on sabbatical, he asked Maxwell, still in her twenties, to take over the position. Though she was initially only supposed to serve one year, she stayed for seven (1987–95). Maxwell also served as Director of New Play Development at the

Charlottetown Festival The Charlottetown Festival is a seasonal Canadian musical theatre festival which has run from late May to mid-October every year since 1965. The Charlottetown Festival is hosted in Confederation Centre of the Arts every year. Named after its host c ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

.Scenes from a Life: Jackie Maxwell
by Melissa Leong, 2012,

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

, accessed September 1, 2019 Beginning with their 2002 season, Maxwell served as the artistic director for the

, succeeding

Christopher Newton Christopher Newton (11 June 1936 – 20 December 2021) was a Canadian director and actor, who served as artistic director of the Shaw Festival from 1980 to 2002. Early life and education Newton was born in Deal, Kent, England and educated at ...

. Prior to becoming artistic director, she had served as the head of the new writing program of the Shaw Academy in the 1980s and directed ''

Picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

'' in 2001. During her tenure at the Shaw Festival, Maxwell has included pieces by women writers from Shaw’s period, commissioned new translations by some of Canada’s most respected playwrights, presented Canadian classics on the playbill and initiated enormous growth in the area of new play development. Her choices of plays marked a move away from presenting only plays by Shaw and his contemporaries towards including contemporary playwrights. Maxwell's extensive list of directed productions includes

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's '' Three Sisters'' (2003),Shaw Festival Mandate and History http://www.shawfest.com/about-the-shaw/mandate-and-history/ Marc Michel Bouchard's ''The Coronation Voyage'' (2003) and Githa Sowerby's ''Rutherford and Son'' (2004), ''Saint Joan'' (2007), ''Brief Encounters'' (2009),Noël Coward’s Tonight at 8:30 series started with previews of Brief Encounters at the Shaw Festival Theatre. Media Release. Shaw Festival. http://news.shawfest.com/2009/04/14/noel-coward’s-tonight-at-830-series-started-with-previews-of-brief-encounters-at-the-shaw-festival-theatre/ Jay Turvey/Paul Sportelli musical ''Maria Severa'' (2011). Beginning with Shaw's 2015 season, Maxwell began to transition out of the role of artistic director. She served as artistic director for the 2015 and 2016 seasons and then oversaw the 2017 season. In 2016, as part of her final season as artistic director, Maxwell returned to Chekhov, whose ''Three Sisters'' she directed in her inaugural season as AD, and directed ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897, and first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre, directed by Konstan ...

''. Maxwell was succeeded as AD by Tim Carroll. In 2017, the festival renamed the Studio Theatre in Maxwell's honour, calling it the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre. The Studio Theatre was originally added to the Shaw Festival space during Maxwell's tenure as AD in 2009.

Personal life

She is married to actor

and has two children, Deragh and Lou.

Awards and honours

Maxwell was award the Canadian Theatre Critics Association's Herbert Whittaker/Drama Bench Award in 2008. In 2016, Maxwell was made a member of the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the Advice (constitutional), advice of the Executive Council ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Jackie 1956 births Living people Irish theatre directors Irish women theatre directors Dramaturges Members of the Order of Ontario Canadian theatre directors Canadian women theatre directors Canadian artistic directors Irish emigrants to Canada