Calgary’s theatre scene sticks together no matter the size
If you think there’s nothing going on in Calgary you need to get off your couch and have a look around. There’s no longer an excuse to be bored or culturally deprived in this city. Saying otherwise is just plain lazy. Perhaps nothing is more representative of this fact than the city’s thriving theatre community.
With new companies popping up on a regular basis and established companies putting on everything from mind-bending contemporary productions to traditional narratives and musicals Calgary’s theatre landscape is diverse. But spend any time attending plays or talking to those in the theatre community and you quickly realize one fundamental truth — this is a tight knit co-operative scene.
“When I was freelancing I worked all over the place and I really felt there was no boundary there was no distinction” says Vanessa Porteous artistic director of Alberta Theatre Projects. “Everyone is trying to create a really excellent experience for their audience.”
“We just really are a fluid community which is obviously a great pleasure and a great advantage.”
Although Porteous now heads one of the largest companies in town with an onsite set shop and costume shop it shares with Theatre Calgary she is familiar with the challenges of directing small productions. When working on Queen Lear for Urban Curvz Theatre in 2009 Porteous and the rest of the crew practised in the common room of a condo building and stored their set in the designer’s backyard. But perhaps the best solution to one of their logistical problems lends credence to the assertion that Calgary’s scene is one big happy family.
“We borrowed the Downstage van the one that was used for the mobile production (B)ust . We borrowed the bus from (B)ust to move our set from the condo” says Porteous.
ATP’s Martha Cohen Theatre is nestled into the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts alongside Theatre Calgary Downstage One Yellow Rabbit and Theatre Calgary in addition to a number of smaller companies that rent space for any given show. This congregation of theatrical talent is a major factor in bringing companies and individuals together.
“Oh it’s huge” says Porteous. “I think it’s huge. I really feel like of all the towns I’ve ever known there just isn’t that psychological barrier between the different sizes of companies.”
Dennis Garnhum is another one of the big guys. He’s the artistic director of Caglary’s largest theatre company Theatre Calgary. But unlike Porteous his resumé leans heavily to big stage productions.
“I’ve always wanted to work on this level “ he says.
“I love the theatre where a curtain rises and 750 people sit there and a lot of people come onstage and tell you beautiful stories. I don’t lay at night thinking I’m going to do this play in a small room where we’re really going to upset people. That doesn’t excite me. Other artists really do and they don’t like what I do.”
However both big and small accessible and upsetting are vital to a thriving theatre scene according to Garnhum. Playing together and supporting one another is a given for both he and Porteous and for the many small companies dotting our creative landscape.
As a fairly recent transplant to Calgary Garnhum was surprised by the local theatre scene when he arrived five years ago to helm Theatre Calgary.
“There’s more community spirit in the theatre community here in Calgary than most communities I’ve worked in. That was shockingly obvious” he says.
But sometimes it can appear a little insular. You see the same faces on different stages. You see the same names in programs for direction lighting sound and choreography. Is there a threat that Calgary’s theatre community is a little too close?
A SPACE APART
One company that occupies the fringes is Theatre Junction. A mid-size company with a large theatre space Theatre Junction is physically separated from the Epcor crowd with a home at The Grand and is focused on producing original material and curating national and international contemporary acts that defy genres. It sets them apart. And it brings new faces to the stage.
“I do see it as a strength because for me it’s a local national international thing that’s happening here and that all of these different perspectives help to create different points of view which I think is representative of what’s happening globally” says Mark Lawes executive artistic director of Theatre Junction. “So we can’t only look inside we’re an incubator to create things here but we’re also disseminating work by other Canadian artists that are touring across the country…. And then from other places around the world.”
He thinks having these outside influences on Calgary’s stages is essential to growing and strengthening the scene.
But this isn’t to say that the company shuns the theatre community or wants to keep others out. In fact they’re looking for cost-effective ways to bring more people into their theatre space. Lawes sees The Grand as a “public wealth” but one that costs a great deal to maintain 365 days a year.
“So we’re looking at ways to have more things going on there” he says. “Step by step we’re trying to build on the activity.”
The possibility of more space is music to a small company’s ears. Simone Saunders a founding member of Calgary’s newest theatre troupe Ellipsis Tree Collective says that aside from finding money finding room to practice and perform is the biggest challenge.
“The reason why we put our show at the end of summer was because then we could get a space like Lunchbox because that’s when most of the bigger theatre companies have their off-season” says Saunders referring to their current production Ruined .
Saunders has also seen firsthand the level of co-operation amongst companies and individuals particularly the larger companies supporting the little guys.
“I personally would like to see that support extended a little further” she says. “I don’t know what that means whether it’s creating some more festivals in the city to support emerging artists I would love to see more of that or whether it’s doing more co-pro’s or bigger companies having more of a mentorship towards the smaller theatre companies.”
Ellen Close is the associate artistic producer at Downstage a well-known small political theatre company in Calgary. She says that having an abundance of theatre companies and a close-knit community is a benefit for all. Rather than a drain on attention spans and resources she echoes the beliefs of Lawes Porteous Garnhum and Saunders when she says that one person who goes out to the theatre any theatre and decides they want to see more is good for everyone.
“So I don’t think we suffer from overlapping audiences or anything like that” she says. “It’s true that there are only so many evenings in a year but there are a lot of them so I don’t consider other theatre companies to be our competition for audience members in that way.”
But everybody getting along doesn’t necessarily mean you have to get along all the time. Sometimes there has to be some tough love or at least some honesty to keep everybody moving forward.
“Part of being supportive is having strong dialogue about what makes strong and compelling art” says Close. “When we say we have a supportive and a close-knit community that can’t just mean boosterism or being supportive for supportive sake.”
