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About the company
White Rooster Theatre was incorporated in April 2001 and has committed the past 19 years to seeking and producing the best work of our female writers. With a global movement to increase the presence of women in theatre, White Rooster is the most consistent producer dedicated to women writers in Atlantic Canada. We support the work of women in all aspects of production by prioritizing them for design and other opportunities. We’ve steadily built a reputation for creatively presenting top, award-winning artists with an approach respectful of all artists in the process. In 2019, our season includes 6 productions, three of which include performers of diverse backgrounds. Our intent is to develop talent, regardless of experience, background, education, or ability.
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Ruth LawrenceARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Ruth Lawrence works as an actor, director, writer and producer in both theatre and film. She is a writer-director on the 2018 award-winning anthology feature, Hopeless Romantic (Northeast Productions). She directed her first CBC-TV feature documentary, Circus by Komatik (Firecrown Productions) about a special circus project in Labrador, released in June 2019. In 2020, her directorial debut feature, Little Orphans (Imagine That Productions), will premiere. She directed the music videos Shine Your Light with The Ennis Sisters and Bounce Back with The Swinging Belles and The Once. Among her several shorts as writer/director, Talus & Scree was a national semi-finalist in CBC’s Short Film Face Off, reached #1 in the Short of the Month for February 2015 and was an official selection for the 2014 WIFT International Showcase. She directed the 5-episode comedy webseries, Buy the Boards, for her company, Blue Pinion Films. She is currently developing and directing a documentary on the St. John's International Women's Film Festival for CBC-TV.
As founding Artistic Director of White Rooster Theatre, now in its 20th season, she created the historical performance piece, Other Women Walk in Bannerman Park, a critical and audience success that continues in August 2019. Ruth directed and produced Remnants by Jenna Turk. Her acclaimed production of Berni Stapleton’s masterful Offensive to Some for Persistence Theatre was remounted in January 2019. She directed the premiere for the Canadian Tour of No Change in the Weather: A Newfoundland Musical for Terra Bruce Productions in Summer/Fall 2019. She is a regular director at Rising Tide Theatre in Trinity. Ruth has performed in well over 100 original productions during her career, including a lead role in the recent film, Under the Weather and the title role in the upcoming play, The Haunting of Margaret Duley. Ruth won the 2011 Joan Orenstein Best Actress Award for Joel Thomas Hynes’ Clipper Gold at the Atlantic Film Festival and the 2011 RBC Michelle Jackson Award for Emerging Filmmaker for Two Square Feet, starring Jeanne Beker. She was named the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s 2011 Artist of the Year, in 2013 was honoured with the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, and the 2016 YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for Arts & Culture. In 2019, she was recognized by Women in Film & Television Atlantic for her mentorship and contribution to the film community. Ruth is ever thankful to her comedic offspring, Luke. She's a passionate arts and human rights advocate who loves living in Newfoundland & Labrador. |
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Sherry White ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
Sherry White recently wrapped directing an episode of Global’s upcoming drama series Nurses after showrunning and directing the eagerly-awaited Season II of Little Dog for CBC, starring Joel Thomas Hynes. Previously, she was an executive producer on Tassie Cameron’s ABC drama series Ten Days in the Valley. She was a writer and executive producer on Season II and III of Netflix/Discovery’s period drama Frontier, as well as co-executive producer on Shondaland’s series The Catch. Before that, Sherry was a co-executive producer for the ABC/Global series Rookie Blue, a show she had been a writer on for six seasons. She has also written and produced for Orphan Black, as well as CTV’s hit series Saving Hope.
Her work in feature film includes writing the award-winning Maudie, starring Ethan Hawke and Sally Hawkins. Other film writing credits include Relative Happiness, Down to the Dirt, and The Breadmaker. She also wrote and directed the Genie Award-nominated feature film Crackie, starring Mary Walsh, which screened at over 30 festivals worldwide, including TIFF, Karlovy Vary, and Torino Film Festival, where it took home the jury prize. It was also named one of the top 10 films in Canada for 2009 and screened at the MOMA in New York City in March 2010. Sherry has also directed several award-winning short films that played at various festivals around the world. She is the 2019 winner of the Nell Shipman Award for a showrunner promoting women and diversity in telling stories for film and television. |
Associated Artists
Recognitions & Awards
Our 2014 co-production of Catherine Banks’ Governor General Awardwinning play It Is Solved By Walking with Halifax-based HomeFirst Productions, directed by Mary Vingoe, received 5 Merritt Award nominations in NS.
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