The Three Sisters Theatre Company combats the male-dominated theatre industry with its February production of the Daniel MacIvor play Marion Bridge at The Gladstone theatre.
Since 2009, the company has made it a mission to produce plays rich with female talent. Instead of pitting female actresses against each other all vying for the same scarce roles, Three Sisters has allowed Ottawa-area actresses to work together in a creative environment.
With the mantra, “making sure Ottawa theatre can pass the Bechdel test,” Three Sisters strives to produce female-focused theatre, full of dynamic and realistic female characters.
The Bechdel test, which was created in 1985 by American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, has become a popular method of determining the complexity and impact of female characters in a production. According to the Bechdel test website, in order to pass the test the production must contain two or more female characters who talk with one another about something other than a man.
With a cast and crew consisting predominantly of women, Three Sisters Theatre Company is making sure Marion Bridge does not fall into that category.
The play Marion Bridge is a story about three disconnected sisters who return home to Cape Breton to be with their dying mother. It follows the relationship between the women as they reconnect and unearth old questions and resentments on their way to finding sisterhood again.
Robin Guy, the artistic director of Three Sisters and one of the leads in Marion Bridge, says that in the process of picking productions for the theatre season, the role of the man tends to outweigh the role of the woman.
“When the plays are getting picked by guys, the guys pick plays that have really great guy parts in them. Unfortunately in most of the plays that have really awesome guy parts, the girls are not good roles.”
For more than 20 years, Guy has been part of the Ottawa theatre scene and says she has experienced the difficulty women tend to face when trying to pursue theatre careers.
“The other problem with plays locally is that there aren’t very many women in the plays – even if you get the part, you may be the only girl in the green room.”
Due to the largely female cast and crew, with just one male lighting designer among the group, Guy says Marion Bridge has given her a chance to work alongside women she’s longed to collaborate with.
Bronwyn Steinberg, director of Marion Bridge, is the daughter of a high school theatre teacher and she says she’s been involved since her childhood.
“I really admire the team; it’s a whole bunch of strong talented women getting together,” says Steinberg.
Marion Bridge is set to run Feb. 11 to Feb. 21 at The Gladstone.