WJT names Ari Weinberg new artistic director

Posted:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Winnipeg Jewish Theatre has picked a new artistic director with direct connections to the city’s theatre community.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/03/2015 (4243 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Jewish Theatre has picked a new artistic director with direct connections to the city’s theatre community.

Ari Weinberg, who spent time as the intern artistic director under Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre head Stephen Schipper as part of the 2013 Professional Theatre Training Program, will take over the top role at WJT on June 1.

“I’m humbled and honoured to become Winnipeg Jewish Theatre’s next artistic director,” Weinberg says in a release.

During his acting career, Weinberg also appeared at Royal MTC’s Romeo and Juliet, playing Benvolio in the Schipper-directed 2011 revival of the Shakespearean classic.

Weinberg says he will move to Winnipeg to take on the WJT job.

“The two times I worked (in Winnipeg) have been incredible experiences,” Weinberg says. “The arts and culture scene is so vibrant and diverse, and I look forward to meeting, joining, supporting and contributing to the community at large.”

Weinberg’s current roles are intern artistic director at the Metcalf Foundation and the internship adviser for the Music Theatre-Performance program at Sheridan College in suburban Toronto, which he also is an alumnus.

Weinberg has directed productions of Godspell and Sweeney Todd at Theatre Sheridan and has two Patron’s Pick awards from the Toronto Fringe Festival.

He is also a certified teaching artist through the Stratford Festival and York University.

Weinberg takes over for Kayla Gordon, who was named interim artistic director when WJT re-opened in August 2014 after a six-month closure caused by financial issues.

The theatre company’s next production is Bad Jews, which makes its Canadian première at the Berney Theatre May 6-17.

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

SUPPLIED Photos shared on social media by the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg show the structure engulfed in flames.

Fire destroys St. Boniface housing unit

By Matthew Frank 3 minute read Preview

Fire destroys St. Boniface housing unit

By Matthew Frank 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:48 PM CDT

A six-unit housing development in St. Boniface was levelled by fire Tuesday.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service was notified at 4:50 a.m. that the site on the 800 block of Archibald Street, near Elizabeth Road, was on fire, a city spokesperson said in an email. No injuries were reported.

Firefighters had the blaze under control by about 6:15 a.m. after using an aerial ladder to tackle the flames from above and protect nearby homes, the spokesperson said.

At the site, no signs were present to identify the construction company or developer. The fences of neighbouring homes were burned and rooftop shingles were singed. Ash and fire-retardant foam littered the lawns.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 4:48 PM CDT
DAVID ZALUBOWSKI/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Thursday marks Day 29 of Winnipeg Jets franchise goaltender Connor Hellebuyck’s suspension this season after not reporting to training camp.

Possibility of Hellebuyck’s return grows each day as pay slips away

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Preview

Possibility of Hellebuyck’s return grows each day as pay slips away

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read 5:43 PM CDT

CHICAGO — Buckle up, folks. The next plot twist in the ongoing soap opera between the Winnipeg Jets and Connor Hellebuyck could be a doozy.

Let’s start with a few cold, hard facts. Or, if you prefer: “Previously on As the Hellebuyck Turns…”

The franchise goaltender, with five years remaining on a contract extension he willingly signed with Winnipeg in 2023, refused to report to training camp last month as he awaits word on a trade request made at the end of last season. He’s the first NHL player in more than a quarter century to essentially go on strike.

The Jets are under no obligation to move Hellebuyck, but have indicated they would try to accommodate him if another team meets their needs. General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has made it clear he needs to “get this right” and wants a haul for a three-time Vezina Trophy winner and one-time Hart Trophy recipient.

Read
5:43 PM CDT
John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES

Gang member who shot rival, bystander back in prison after release revoked

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Preview

Gang member who shot rival, bystander back in prison after release revoked

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Monday, Oct. 12, 2026

A Winnipeg man who shot a rival teenage gangster and an innocent 11-year-old bystander at the crowded Red River Exhibition more than four years ago has been sent back to prison.

Mocree Chuck Scatch-Dubour, now in his early 20s, left prison in April on statutory release on his 5 1/2-year federal sentence for the 2022 shooting. Scatch-Dubour was sentenced to the prison term as an adult in the spring of 2023 after pleading guilty to discharge of a firearm with intent to wound, aggravated assault and possession of a restricted firearm.

By law, most federal inmates automatically receive statutory release after two-thirds of their sentence, if they have not already been paroled.

Parole Board of Canada officials formally revoked Scatch-Dubour’s release this month after he unlawfully left his halfway house in June.

Read
Monday, Oct. 12, 2026
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES New e-scooter legislation is set to come into effect next year in Manitoba.

Manitoba e-scooter legislation changes set to impose speed limit, age restrictions, sidewalk ban

Matthew Frank 4 minute read Preview

Manitoba e-scooter legislation changes set to impose speed limit, age restrictions, sidewalk ban

Matthew Frank 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:26 AM CDT

People riding e-scooters and other personal electric vehicles in Manitoba will have to strap on a helmet, stay off sidewalks and follow new age limits once new provincial rules for the devices take effect next year.

The vehicles, which also include electric skateboards, hoverboards and unicycles, will fall under The Highway Traffic Act starting in 2027, according to the province’s website. E-bikes are excluded from the new rules, according to the province’s frequently-asked-questions page.

All riders must be at least 16 years old and wear properly fitting helmets — that goes for passengers, too, the province said.

The proposed new legislation sets a speed limit of 25 km/h and would prohibit personal electric vehicles from sidewalks unless signs specifically allow sidewalk use. Riders would be using shared paths or roads with speed limits of 50 km/hr or less. They won’t be allowed to operate the vehicles under the influence of alcohol or drugs and they must use hand signals and obey traffic signs.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 11:26 AM CDT
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS Avery Helm and Quincy Houdayer with dog Honey outside their Furby Street apartment. After repeatedly asking for repairs, they went to the Residential Tenancies Branch.

Tenants battling landlords find help in short supply from province

Scott Billeck 14 minute read Preview

Tenants battling landlords find help in short supply from province

Scott Billeck 14 minute read Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT

For nearly three years, Quincy Houdayer and Avery Helm repeatedly pressed their landlord to address plumbing failures, water damage and other maintenance problems at their West Broadway apartment, with records showing some issues persisted until the couple turned to the Residential Tenancies Branch.

Emails and text messages between the tenants, Clearwater Management and the RTB reviewed by the Free Press document recurring leaks and flooding, periods without heat or hot water, concerns about mould and basement conditions and repeated followups from the couple seeking repairs.

“Most of the experiences we’ve had with them can be boiled down to, like, they either are very dismissive about it, they act like it’s not their problem… or they will just fully, blatantly ignore you,” Helm said, adding that the only way to get Clearwater to respond was to threaten going to the RTB, a provincial government agency.

RTB data obtained by the Free Press also shows 13 orders involving the three-building complex at 193-197 Furby St. in 2026 alone. All but one favoured the tenant, while the remaining order ruled in favour of both the tenant and landlord on different items.

Read
Yesterday at 6:00 AM CDT
Agnieszka Ciochon-Newton

Convicted harasser accused of targeting old, new victims, including judge

Dean Pritchard 6 minute read Preview

Convicted harasser accused of targeting old, new victims, including judge

Dean Pritchard 6 minute read 5:53 PM CDT

Agnieszka Ciochon-Newton, who was sentenced to six years in prison for mercilessly harassing two people she believed had wronged her, as well as other crimes, wasted no time when her sentence ended to launch fresh attacks on victims new and old, including the judge who convicted her, court documents allege.

The 58-year-old former nurse was arrested last month after Winnipeg police “became aware that (Ciochon-Newton) was engaging in aggressive and harassing behaviours again, starting almost immediately upon the expiry of her parole conditions” on May 13, Det. Sgt Kylie Case wrote in search warrant documents obtained by the Free Press.

Ciochon-Newton is charged with seven counts of criminal harassment, two counts of uttering threats and one count each of fraud, breaking and entering, attempting to obstruct justice, intimidation of a justice official, mischief and defamatory libel. She remains in custody.

Search warrant documents say provincial court Judge Keith Eyrikson learned in late August that Ciochon-Newton had emailed CBC Manitoba days earlier and threatened him.

Read
5:53 PM CDT