Claire Hill

Claire Hill came to UVic from Dalhousie University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Technical Scenography. At UVic, she completed a Masters degree in Theatre History in 2012. Her Masters essay explored the commission of Louis Riel, the opera, for Canada’s 1967 Centennial celebrations, and how the work paradoxically, or perhaps fittingly, used a traitor to the very idea of Canada to celebrate Canada.

Claire has worked from Halifax to Victoria as a technician, scenic carpenter, administrator, academic and scenographer. As a scenographer (which includes all of the visual, experiential and spatial composition of performances), she incorporates recycled materials, found-space and immersive environments into her practice. Her work often embraces theatre in reclaimed spaces with designs that integrate existing architecture and surrounding landscape.

Currently living in Toronto, Ontario, Claire is an active member in the Indie theatre scene, designing critically acclaimed productions by Kat Sandler (Liver, Retreat, Cockfight) and the Red One Theatre Collective at the Storefront Theatre. She's a founding member of safeword theatre, a company dedicated to exploring the more deviant sides of sexuality in theatre. Prior to this, she was the Administrative Manager for Dancemakers, a company focused on contemporary aesthetics, cross-disciplinary dialogues and collaborative engagement. Dancemakers is the first company in Canada to adopt an Incubation Production House model, which eliminated the role of Artistic Director and instead operates under a Curator.

Some of her recent designs include Turtleneck and Donors (safeword), Nine Mile Portage and Macbeth (Theatre By The Bay), Madeline Robin Known as Roxanne (Theatre Double Take), Contractions (Red One Theatre) and Kat Sandler’s Cockfight (Theatre Brouhaha).