A director, creator, and dramaturg, Kendra Jones graduated with Distinction from the MA Text & Performance at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), London, and holds a BA(Hons) in Theatre Performance from the University of Winnipeg where she has also been guest faculty. Born in Winnipeg, Canada, and first trained as a dancer, Kendra spent years as an award-winning competitive dancer, then an actor, before gradually moving into Directing.
email: kendra@impelartists.com
“. . . so carefully conceived that the cinematic elements supported the shows’ theatricality rather than supplanting it. . . . The top-notch cast’s urgent performances made us feel we had somehow tuned into the agonized characters’ meeting that very minute. [one of the 3 most memorable digital productions of 2021]”
“I, Malvolio is by far one of the most interesting shows of the festival... perhaps even the past few years of Royal MTC’s Master Playwright Festival. 4.5 Stars”
“It’s a time-traveling onslaught that only ends when the play does. NNNN”
“A master class in the art of tragedy. 5 stars”
Favourite directing credits include An Acorn, I, Malvolio (impel theatre), Sea Wall, 4.48 Psychosis (Theatre By the River), Watching Glory Die (Love2Theatre Company), Sweet Mama and the Salty Muffins (Alumnae Theatre/Whiskey Ginger Collective), Drunk Enough To Say I Love You, Seagulls (selardi theatre), Clever Little Lies (Assistant director to Steven Schipper, RMTC,) and Richard II (Assistant Director to Christopher Brauer, Zone41). She has co-created work under the leadership of Brenda McLean for Theatre Incarnate (Dionysus is Getting Impatient) and went on to study devised approaches to theatre creation under Andrew Visnevski at RADA, where she did a deep dive into historical texts and post-dramatic work. While studying in the UK, Kendra studied and workshopped approaches to dramaturgy under Paul Sirett, Lin Coglin, Sarah Grochala, and Maryann Hushaluk, as well as devising with Annabel Arden and Simon McBurney of Complicité, and directing under Katie Mitchell. While at RADA Kendra was a co-leader in the creation of two devised pieces; one in response to The Duchess of Malfi, and another in response to the work of Jean Genet. This led her to her dissertation work No More Prayers, a post-dramatic stage essay created from and in response to depictions of Antigone through theatre history. This dissertation work , which comprised of the creation of a performance piece and documentation of that process, was not only lauded for its academic achievement in interrogating the creation and content of theatrical work, but also published by the Humanities Education Research Association in their InterDisciplinary Humanities Journal.
Kendra launched her own company, impel Theatre, in 2009 to make a home for her more experimental theatre creations. This includes her one-act play Dear Mama which premiered in 2013 and is currently under additional development with the support and encouragement of Andy McKim and Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto. She co-created the immersive event Tonight at Eight, and created an audio installation Autel, which has been shown at RADA, The Gas Station Arts Centre, and The University of Toronto's FOOT, along with a new promenade theatrical happening Do You Know This Place? which is under development and was first tested at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Crapshoot. Her academic writing focuses on the performer-audience relationship and the ethics of performance, and has been published by Common Ground Publishing, Brunel University and the Humanities Education Research Association. Kendra is a member of the Directors Lab North facilitated by Luminato Festival and the British Council in Toronto, and the Canadian Stage Company’s RBC Emerging Artists Network.
AWARDS & PUBLICATIONS
Nominee for the Gina Wilkinson Directors Prize - 2021
Interview with Sesaya Arts on Watching Glory Die - 2020
Re-Imagining Expectation For The Theatrical Event . Immersive Theatre: Engaging The Audience. Common Ground Publishing, ed. Josh Machamer - 2017
Body, Space, Technology Journal Vol 12. [Brunel University] - Dear Mama; An Artistic Statement by Kendra Jones - 2014
Interdisciplinary Humanities Journal. Autumn Special Edition [Humanities Education Research Association] - Approaching Antigone: A Critical and Performative Analysis of Sophocles’ Antigone, Spurring the Creation of a New Post-Dramatic Work, No More Prayers by Kendra Jones - 2015
Nuit Blanche Official Selection for Illuminate the Night - 2015
Manitoba Arts Council Professional Development Grant Recipient - 2014
Recipient of Jean Murray/Moray Sinclair Scholarship from Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre – 2004, 2005, 2011
Shortlisted for Bluma Appel Mentorship for emerging directors at The Globe Theatre, London, UK - 2015
Recipient of the Jean Murray/Moray Sinclair Apprenticeship from Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre - 2015
Shortlisted for Academic Residency at York St John University (UK) - 2014
Manitoba Arts Council Student Bursary Recipient – 2011
Recipient of University Gold Medal for achievement in Honours Theatre, University of Winnipeg – 2006 Spring Convocation