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Jennifer Stewart named Theatre Orangeville’s new associate artistic director 

November 28, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

“The Theatre Orangeville Board of Directors is thrilled to announce that Jennifer Stewart has been chosen to succeed long-standing artistic director David Nairn as the theatre’s new artistic director.”

So began Theatre Orangeville’s press release two weeks ago, which elaborated to clarify that Stewart will ease into the very considerable role. Firstly, as associate artistic director, she will engage in an “overlap/mentorship period” with Nairn for six months, starting in January 2025, and for the remainder of the 2024/25 Season. 

On July 1, 2025, Stewart will take over the position of artistic director.

Born and bred in Stratford, Ont., Stewart’s first acting role was in a production at the Stratford Festival when she was a child.

How this happened is such a lovely story: in grade two at school in Stratford, Stewart had a famous teacher, Lois Bennett, who taught her very young students Shakespeare.

“When I was seven,” Stewart told the Citizen, “our class read ‘Twelfth Night,’ which was playing at the Stratford Festival that year and we did our version for the cast between shows.”

Stewart was subsequently chosen from four of those young actors to perform in “A Winter’s Tale” at the Stratford Festival.

This recount of theatre finding her, rather than of Stewart deciding on theatre as a career, came during a recent Google Meet interview – she in Spain; artistic director David Nairn, marketing strategist Amanda Doerrie and this writer, all in Ontario.

Reading her biography and the press release both outline her many times when theatre gave her opportunities to travel, including, in part, to England, Germany, Russia (one month) and Bali.

She told us a bit about this adventure, the Modules Program, based in London, England.

“It was very international, meeting people from all over the world,” she said.

It took her, in part, to the ISI University in Bali, Indonesia. 

“This was a cultural exchange,” she said, adding she was in Bali for four weeks.

“We did theatre and dance and puppeteering.” 

She and her fellow participants were to make their own puppets and tell a story with her puppet. Stewart said through this travel, she learned what it takes to make a country great: a good government and education.

Still based in Stratford, while travelling to London, Stewart met Daniel Polanco, from Spain, who had decided he wanted to come back to Toronto. They returned together and for a couple of years, lived between Spain and Toronto, flying back and forth every six months. And they had a son, Luka Polanco-Stewart who is now six years old.

The list of Stewart’s performances in plays and musicals in Canada, the US and Europe is very long and very impressive. Equal to that is her ongoing passion for learning and teaching. She earned an MFA Degree in Theatre Directing from East 15/University of Essex, London, U.K. and attended Sheridan College for Musical Theatre Performance. 

As well as being on the faculty of Randolph College and teaching workshops at the University of Toronto, in 2021/2022, Stewart taught acting (interpretacion) classes at La Escuela Superior Artes Escencias de Malaga, in Malaga, Spain.

In every way, there is tremendous cheer and optimism about Jennifer Stewart heading the Theatre Orangeville team. She sees in the town similarities to her own hometown in its attractiveness and history, in its excellent location to other towns and cities. Already, she and her partner are looking to buy a home here. As her partner, Polanco works full time online, he can live where it suits.

“Whenever you start something, jump in,” are her feelings. “So many people have congratulated me. This will be a team effort. I must be a collaborator.”

Although Stewart is currently in Spain, she is flying back to Canada on Jan. 13. Meanwhile, there are plans for weekly meetings remotely. One of her questions to Nairn, given the Theatre Orangeville policy of showing Canadian playwrights exclusively, is if there is enough content to fill the bills. She has been reading plays and Nairn has assured her: there is enough content. There is enough to produce a completely new season in 2025/26.

Nairn commented about the hiring being a fascinating process, “There was a desire and understanding that this is the right time for Theatre Orangeville to move forward.”

“I am 46 years old,” Steward said. “The second interview was an hour and a half but I was prepared and knew about my male competitors. I was confident I can do this job.”

Her father had given her some advice and she shared it with us: “Lean forward; ask questions that show you are prepared and, when you stand up to leave, turn and say, ‘I really want this job and I will do a good job for you.’”

Stewart’s introduction to Theatre Orangeville began through her agent who was married to Jim Betts, founder of Theatre Orangeville. It was Betts who contacted Nairn in 1999 to come to Orangeville and take on the job of artistic director.

In 1992, Stewart had a role as a little girl in a production of Camelot, in Grand Bend starring David Nairn as King Arthur. Because at any age, Stewart looked younger than she was, she also played the part of the boy, Tom, at the end of the show.

It was Tom, whom Arthur famously commanded, “Run, boy run! Go from village to village and tell the world that once there was a spot that was known as Camelot!”

Serendipitous was the word: Stewart had to convince the Board of Directors that she was the right person to fill the job as artistic director, once again taking the message from David Nairn into the world.

We asked her why anyone should come to the theatre and see the first play she would choose for the next season.

She told us, “It will be a comedy for sure, elegant, mysterious – a great night at the theatre.”

Later David Nairn offered that he believes “people come into our lives when the time is right.”

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