14.15
annual report
14.15 season Total audience: 112,741 Number of subscribers: 3,930 Public Performances - local: 264 Public performances - touring: 79 Works performed: 18 Premiere works: 5 Arts education participants: 5,078 Number of volunteers: 234 Volunteer hours worked: 4,284 hrs
A home for innovative live performance from Canada and around the world Where theatre, dance, music and visual arts collide Where a bold, 21st century aesthetic reigns This is Canadian Stage 2
“a home for Canada’s best contemporary performance artists— whatever the form, be it theatre or dance—within a context of great work from around the world” - Macleans
Chair’s Message The 2014 season marks my last season as Chair of the Canadian Stage Board of Directors. In preparing for the transition to a new Board Chair, I have reflected on the immense volume of work we have done as a Board and as an organization over the last several years, and the evolution of the company’s international artistic presence. I am encouraged by our achievements in fundraising and growing international recognition, excited by the opportunities we have seized locally, across the country and internationally, and mindful of the myriad challenges we face in changing paradigms. Our Artistic and General Director Matthew Jocelyn’s extraordinary curation of programming and dedication to international artistic collaboration, and his tremendous intellectual leadership, have attracted a Board of Directors that is strategic and forward thinking and comfortable with robust debate. Thank you to my terrific peers who have ensured that Canadian Stage is well positioned for the next stage of its evolution, under steady hands. It has been an absolute pleasure working with the dedicated Canadian Stage staff led by our ever pragmatic and diplomatic Managing Director, Su Hutchinson to further Canadian Stage’s consolidation as the premier producer and presenter of contemporary performance at home and abroad. At the heart of this organisation is a team of people who individually command their responsibilities with intellectual rigour and a clarity of dedication that is exhilarating and productive. I look forward to being an active Board member under our new Chair Noreen Taylor. Noreen has had a long association with the company as a dedicated audience member and friend to Canadian Stage, and more recently a member of the Board. Noreen is well known as a visionary leader in both the private and public sectors and I am confident that under her leadership as Chair, Canadian Stage’s light will shine even brighter. It has been an honour and a pleasure to lead this board, and I am thrilled to continue to be a part of such a great company. Adrian Lang Board Chair (2013-2015)
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Artistic and General Director’s Message This editorial was originally written in September 2015, seven weeks prior to the most recent extremist attacks in Paris. It has been slightly edited before going to print.
Over the past three months, British artist Anish Kapoor’s large sculpture/installation at the Château de Versailles, Dirty Corner, has been the object of three separate, night-time attacks, leaving it covered in paint and graffiti, worse, in hate speech. These are but the latest of many, far too many, recent attacks throughout France on works of art by outraged individuals, mostly acting “in the name of” some religious or political belief. And while there is immediate public outcry - as for the tragic (and long to be remembered) killings at Paris’ Charlie Hebdo magazine in January 2015, and the more recent horrendous attacks of November 13 - the true consequences are more insidious: curators and editors are becoming increasingly wary, choices are being made to avoid risk or confrontation. In the nation, France, which I chose as home for nearly three decades, and which has always prided itself on being the cradle of “freedom of expression”, fear has become an ingredient, even a motor, in many arenas of cultural decision-making. Censorship is taking the form of self-censorship. And what of theatre in Toronto, Canada? Just what pressures, avowed or unavowed, lean on our decision-making to the point of leaving an imprint? What are our fears, and how do they affect us? Thanks to our self-perpetuating, deeply ingrained middle-of-the-road societal praxis, Canada in recent years seems largely (though not entirely) to have escaped extreme expressions of political or moral outrage, or of religious fanaticism. What we do not know we cannot fear. Simply put, after five years of producing and presenting the bold and uncompromising work that we do at Canadian Stage, our own fear factor is quite straight-forward, though just as insidious in its consequences: it’s money. As one of the country’s largest not-for-profit theatres, we function, as do all our English-Canadian counterparts, as a modestly subsidized commercial entity. Our starting point for virtually every project is its financial viability, its commercial potential: whether audiences will “buy” it, whether sponsors will sponsor it, whether we can make enough money (call it return on investment or profit margin or what you will) to make it possible. While we pride ourselves on the nimbleness of our economic models, our capacity to adapt and adjust - all of which, thanks to an amazingly dedicated team, are true - the bottom line is nonetheless almost always the saleability of the art, far too rarely the art itself. We fear a lack of money, and we fear for lack of money
and whether we like it or not, this too is a form of censorship, a constant, unrelenting pressure felt in our industry, in the cultural industries in general, with the same force as it is felt in any for-profit, market-driven industry in our country today. Is this necessarily a bad thing? No, not necessarily. History has shown - in the world of late 20th century contemporary music for example - that excessive financial freedom can lead to a complete disregard for audiences, for the relationship between the creator and the receiver. Experimental theatre or performance art in highly subsidized (publicly or privately) contexts has also, at times, been of far greater interest and importance to the practitioners than to the audiences. But our balance is not yet a good one. The following pages tell a story primarily of success, and deservedly so: wonderful artistic collaborations, a renewed audience base with a real hunger for the work we are doing, and a clear place on the international scene as a major centre for creation - all within a carefully balanced budget, resulting in our fourth consecutive surplus season. We also have a renewed donor base that understands the essential, unprecedented place that Canadian Stage holds today, and is supporting our work with renewed vigour. And the commitment of our public partners remains strong, within the modest context of public funding for the arts in our country. But we are not yet in a place of comfort, daily we juggle with financial concerns, we invest insufficiently in new creative projects and we all work too hard, far too hard, just to make ends meet. Fear is always there, smirking. This is not a cry of distress. It is a recognition of the reality of contemporary creation today, in a North American context and economy. We are working hard to change that, and while we know we will never attain the true artistic freedom that many European countries have allowed to develop over the past many decades, rethinking our creative and economic models is at the heart of how we do what we do. I am extremely proud of Canadian Stage, and what the teams here have accomplished over the past five years is to my eyes quite astounding. This is but the beginning of our surge forward to create a home both for ourselves and for the best of Canadian and international performance practice today. We continue on, boldly. One day, I dare hope, we shall also do so fearlessly. Matthew Jocelyn Artistic and General Director 5
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@kaynon (on Kiss & Cry) Childlike wonder, delight, beautiful melancholy heartbreak, miniature train sets. I loved it.
Managing Director’s Report It is our duty in this day and age to navigate the barrage of information revealing despair, destruction and unrest, and to respond to the pressing call to be empathetic yet thoughtful, decisive yet strategic. I look to our contemporary artists for guidance. I have high demands for each live artistic experience - provocation, inspiration, revolution, sometimes solace and even an expectation to reach catharsis. It has ever been thus for humankind, I think, our extraordnary drive to be expressive and to challenge complacency in the face of turmoil, to experience and share, often proseletyse the sublimity that comes from witnessing the creative. The weight of these demands on our artists has by extension a similar weight on our institutions. Canadian Stage is now an instution that inhabits this role strongly, made manifest in the calculated risks we take, the cultivation and care of relationships we foster with our artists, audiences and supporters. It is a time of opportunity for this company, and as we look back on the success of the season past in this report, fully enmeshed in the work to come, we celebrate that our flag is squarley planted as a company with a clear and current vision. Our programmatic and producing flag has flown across this country and in this past year, for the second year in a row, in numerous markets overseas. The cross-polination of ideas and practise between our company members, our staff and their international and national colleagues I believe will have a lasting impact on both Canadian Stage’s trajectory, and on theatre practise in this country. We are constantly striving to understand and eliminate the impediments to seeing work come to fruition and reach its audience. This is not light work, but it is deeply gratifying, and fulfilling. As we post our 4th consecutive surplus and continue to reduce our accumulated deficit, we do so supporting an artistic vision and practise that is prescient and compelling. We do this at Canadian Stage as a collective, made up of exceptional Board members, an extraordinary and dedicated staff and in the service of our artists, each of us willing to challenge complacency and engage fully. Thank you, truly for engaging with us. Su Hutchinson Managing Director
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@torontoist Crow’s Theatre’s production of The Seagull is an insightful and beautifully acted version of Chekhov’s classic.
Controller’s Report The following pages offer a condensed version of our financial statements and are derived from audited financial statements issued with an unqualified opinion under date October 7, 2015. The Canadian Stage Audit and Finance Committee is composed of non-employee directors of the company who meet quarterly with financial management and annually with the auditor to satisfy themselves on the adequacy of internal controls and review the financial statements and auditor’s report. The Audit and Finance Committee report its findings to Canadian Stage’s Board of Directors for consideration in approving the financial statements and issuance to stakeholders. Included herewith are the comparable condensed financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2015 and June 30, 2014 with accompanying notes. Of significant mention are the following: •
Canadian Stage has reported a surplus in both of its two previous fiscal years of $100,270 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, and a surplus of $110,101 for fiscal year 2014.
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Our accumulated deficit has decreased by 7% in fiscal year 2015 from fiscal year 2014.
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Reducing the company’s accumulated deficit and maintaining operating surpluses is important in managing our cash flow position and investing in capital and artistic projects.
Sandra Cesario Controller
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Condensed Balance Sheet
June 30
June 30
as at
2015
2014
ASSETS Current : $7,636
$7,180
204,530
191,827
87,990
141,597
391,694
484,895
691,850
825,499
132,754
146,438
$824,604
$971,937
Bank indebtedness
$486,029
$436,792
Accounts payable & accrued liabilities
432,372
659,990
1,230,770
1,299,992
2,149,171
2,396,774
(1,324,567)
(1,424,837)
$824,604
$971,937
Cash Accounts receivable Prepaid expenses Preproduction assets
Capital assets, net
LIABILITIES Current :
Deferred revenues
Ontario Arts Foundation Endowment fund, market value $1,739,288 Deficit
@MooneyonTheatre Circus acts and gravity-defying stunts wow audiences in Opus on stage at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto
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CONDENSED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND CHANGES IN DEFICIT For the year ended
June 30
June 30
2015
2014
REVENUES Earned revenues
$2,721,914
$3,099,733
Development revenues
3,653,468
3,237,707
Grant revenues
2,238,088
2,148,421
Total Revenues
8,613,470
8,485,861
Production
4,007,192
3,732,023
Marketing
2,313,843
2,360,408
Theatre operations
1,082,109
1,163,609
Development
579,926
598,259
Administration
530,130
521,461
Total Expenses
8,513,200
8,375,760
Expenses
Excess of revenues over expenses Deficit, Beginning of year Deficit, End of year
100,270
110,101
(1,424,837)
(1,534,938)
$(1,324,567)
$(1,424,837)
@AineMcGlynn Just got home from @canadianstage Needles and Opium. I’m still spinning! It was absolutely unforgettable.
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“The first collaboration between Necessary Angel and Canadian Stage [ … ] Arranging some 20 of Aznavour’s melodies for a quartet of singing actors and relying on the quartet to bring their backgrounds in jazz, blues, musical theatre and other styles to the music is a great idea” – NOW Magazine
CONDENSED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS For the year ended
June 30
June 30
2015
2014
Cash Provided by Operating Activities Excess of revenues over expenses Amortization Net change in non-cash working capital
$100,270
$110,101
54,579
51,715
(162,735)
(44,135)
(7,886)
117,681
Investing activities Purchase of capital assets Net Change in cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year Cash and cash equivalents, end of year
(40,895)
(59,936)
(48,781)
57,745
(429,612)
(487,357)
$(478,393)
$(429,612)
Cash and cash equivalents consist of: Cash Bank indebtedness
7,636
7,180
(486,029)
(436,792)
$(478,393)
$(429,612)
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS June 30, 2015 1. NATURE OF OPERATIONS Canadian Stage (“Company”), as a community supported not-for-profit arts organization, is dedicated to creating and producing the best in Canadian and international contemporary theatre. The Company nurtures the development of Canadian theatrical talent and strives to challenge the perspectives of its patrons through the presentation of outstanding professional theatre. The Company is also committed to promoting its Canadian productions in international markets. 2. CREDIT FACILITY Canadian Stage has a line of credit with a Canadian chartered bank, which is collateralized by a general assignment of Canadian Stage’s assets and is supported by a guarantee from the City of Toronto. The Company is required to maintain certain covenants with the bank. 3. FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES Credit risk The Company is exposed to credit risk on its cash and cash equivalents and accounts receivable. Accounts receivable balances are not greater than 90 days past due. Liquidity risk The purpose of liquidity management is to ensure that there is sufficient cash to meet all financial commitments and obligations as they fall due. The Company is dependent on its credit facility with a Canadian chartered bank (see Note 2) to meet its ongoing obligations. Current operations of the Company are funded by selling subscription tickets in advance of the performance season, as well as through artistic grants and other amounts received in advance of the year to which they relate. 15
“Shakespeare in High Park [is] an indispensable summer fixture” – NOW Magazine
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Marketing and Communications Report The 2015 fiscal year has been one of success and growth for Canadian Stage, further establishing it as Toronto’s home for innovative contemporary performance from Canada, and around the world. I was pleased to join the organization mid-season to find a strong, stable company with a solid administrative foundation poised for innovative growth. Additional flexibility within our subscription model, allowing each subscriber to tailor their subscription package, has proven to be appealing to our loyal patron base resulting in a 6% increase in overall subscription revenue. The broad programmatic model has also attracted a new subscriber audience, representing 23% of overall subscription revenue and a 25% increase in subscription sales at at our satellite box office in High Park during our annual Shakespeare in High Park productions. Audiences and critics alike responded favourably to so many of the productions on our season. Local successes of productions like Helen Lawrence have allowed Canadian Stage to further explore international touring and extend the Canadian Stage artistic mission and brand onto the international stage. While audiences around the world experience this work, our administrative team continues to build relationships, collaborate and share ideas with colleagues in the world marketplace. At home, Canadian Stage under Matthew’s leadership received tremendous accolades, including a feature in Toronto Life magazine’s June 2015 summary of “Reasons to Love Toronto Now” which stated “each piece of Jocelyn’s programming is strange, striking and cerebral – and he believes Toronto audiences are up for the challenge. The best part is, he’s right.” Canadian Stage continued its Spotlight series with Spotlight South Africa, the festival’s third incarnation. Expanding this series to a three-week timeframe and presenting a large-scale dance piece at the Bluma Appel Theatre resulted in the most successful and well-attended festival to date, and three productions presented at the festival were recognized with Dora Award nominations. I am proud to be part of such a dynamic and engaged group of people who work tirelessly to bring to life the work on our stages and the programs in our community, and I look forward to a very bright future for Candian Stage. T. J. Tasker Director of Marketing and Communications
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“Canadian Stage’s three-week Spotlight South Africa festival gets off to an exciting start with a pairing of emotionally resonant dance and theatre productions that examine how hard it is to shake off personal and collective history.” – NOW Magazine
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Social Impact Dynamic ancillary programs effectively built bridges between our audiences and the contemporary productions on our stages. Pre-Show Chats by academics and members of the creative team allowed us to expand on a production’s thematic content while Post-Show Talkback sessions connected patrons directly to performers. Events such as the multi-sensory INTERMISSION party series, Masterclasses for emerging artists and In Conversation events provided additional access to Canadian Stage’s creative minds, and the space we occupy, and allowed for specific artists and audiences to confab on various issues. Youth audiences continued to be nurtured through our C-Stage discount ticket program designed for our under 30 patrons, and through strategically designed education initiatives. An exceptional volunteer committee of experienced educators led the diversification of resources and programs, while maintaining curriculum relevant for secondary and post-secondary students. Supplementary hands-on workshops for educators alongside customisable artist-led workshops for students in-class or at the theatre underscored the overall experience of a field trip to the theatre, delivering a high level of student engagement and access to the finest in contemporary expression. A closer look at our Spotlight South Africa festival best illustrates the harmony of these initiatives. SPOTLIGHT AT-A-GLANCE: 15 unique programs engaged close to 1000 patrons. 5 workshops for high-school students in puppetry and dance facilitated by local and visiting South African artists. 3 Talkbacks provided audiences the chance to discuss South African arts and politics with the storytellers who performed them. 3 Artist Panel events, each moderated by an expert, and connected between the 6 works presented, were made available to the public as part of the festival. 2 Pre-Show Chats featuring a local academic and South African theatre specialist. 1 free Masterclass, in which local professional and emerging dancers learned from an internationally renowned choreographer, created a lasting Canadian Stage legacy in Toronto’s arts-scene. The Festival culminated with INTERMISSION: an immersive experience that featured a performance of Steven Cohen’s performance art piece Chandelier. Erin Schachter Education and Audience Development Manager
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@Torontonicity @CanadianStage’s Helen Lawrence is a delicious film noir performed on stage and screen
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Producer’s Report Over the past five years Canadian Stage’s dedicated team has forged a reputation as one of the country’s most vibrant cross-disciplinary theatre producing organizations. We have been unwavering in our commitment to build a distinctive identity as a cultural institution that provides world-class training opportunities through our bespoke programs, like the York University Canadian Stage Master of Fine Arts program in large-scale theatre directing, while commissioning, producing, presenting and co-producing original projects with Canada and the world’s most authentic, bold and uncompromising artists. In our 2014.15 season, while Canadian Stage’s production of Helen Lawrence by Stan Douglas and Chris Haddock was on tour in Munich, Edinburgh and on the Bluma Stage here in our home in Toronto, we caught the attention of the curators of two of the world’s most prestigious multi-arts centers: Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in New York and deSingel Arts Campus in Antwerp, Belgium. We continue to expand and build Canadian Stage’s touring capacity for this production and are aggressively working to engage more of our colleagues worldwide to see this pioneering stage production, and to continue is artistic life through our 2016.17 season. April 2015 saw the culmination of two year’s work when we presented a three-week festival celebrating the best of South African performance in our biannual Spotlight Festival. With the expansion of Spotlight South Africa to a three-week format, and the inclusion of the Bluma Appel Stage, along with our two historic Berkeley theatres, we exceeded audience expectations and engaged new audiences
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in meaningful ways. With six unique productions, each artist’s imagination led us on journey through to the twenty-first anniversary of the fall of apartheid. Without the support and vision of The National Arts Council of South Africa, whose belief in promotion of South African artists worldwide, we could not have delivered a project of this magnitude. Canadian Stage gives artists the space and time to develop major projects over an extended period of time through different forms of collaboration. This year the moving image and advanced cinema technology was prevalent not only in our production Helen Lawrence, but at the heart of both Robert Lepage’s Needles and Opium and Charleroi Danses production of Kiss & Cry. Shaped by the vision and conviction of the artists, the Canadian Stage curatorial team was so moved by the work of Michèle Anne De Mey and Jaco Van Dormael that we extended an invitation to not only bring back Kiss & Cry in our 15.16 season, but to co-produce their new work Cold Blood to enable the project to enjoy an extended life. Other highlights this season saw U.K. based, Tony Award-winning playwright Simon Stephens join us for Matthew Jocelyn’s production of Harper Regan, starring Molly Parker from the award-winning series House of Cards; American Playwright Sharr White attend The Other Place, directed by Canada’s own Daniel Brooks, and our own Berkeley Street Partner, Crow’s Theatre’s packing in audiences with Chris Abraham’s all-star Canadian cast of The Seagull. And finally, Canadian Stage’s most talked-about production, Venus in Fur, with Canada’s own Carly Street and Rick Miller, enjoyed “a deliciously sexy start” opening Montreal’s Centaur Theatre’s 46th season and leaving Montreal audiences wanting more. We closed out 2014 with a fitting farewell, presenting Venus in Fur in the Berkeley Street Theatre for its third and final run on our stages. During this past season, Canadian Stage was present via invitation at the following arts markets and festivals: CINARS (Montreal), Under the Radar Festival/APAP (New York), LIFT Festival (London), Festival de Otono a Primavera (Madrid), PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (Vancouver), National Arts Centre Ontario Scene (Ottawa), and PACT 2015 (Toronto). Sherrie Johnson Producer
@judithtimson Caught stunning Carly Street and Rick Miller @canadianstage encore of Venus in Fur. Provocative, sexy, fun.
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Development Report Every year, our work is made possible by the investment of our donors: individuals, corporate, foundations and government. These people and institutions play an increasingly important part in Canadian Stage’s ability to deliver work of the higest calibre. Canadian Stage is grateful for the loyalty and generosity of these arts enthusiasts, representing 68% of our overall revenue. This past year we saw a 9% increase in Development revenue. Our Development Team, Board of Directors, and a selection of our most senior supporters spent countless hours building philanthropic relationships for Canadian Stage, and the results reflect the strong endorsement of work by our diverse array of supporters. Individual Giving Individual donors have continued to lead the way in demonstrating their enthusiasm for our programming by increasing their support. Individual giving increased by 23% overall with a majority of donors renewing and the average gift amount staying steady. We are heartened by the trend that saw a 6% increase in lapsed donors returning, and an 18% increase in giving coming from our Artistic Patrons’ Circle members. Major gifts were our strongest area of growth, with innovative new Artist Underwriter programs and a significant bequest. We continued to present opportunities that encouraged patrons to engage in a more fulsome way with our artistic mandate. This year we enhanced our “Behind the Scenes” donor rewards program which offered insight into the creative process, both from the artistic and production perspectives. This included extensive artist and patron interaction and included tours, panel discussions, and moderated artist interviews. 550 patrons engaged in these events with curiosity and enthusiasm. With the prior year’s launch of City Builders at Canadian Stage (CB@CS), created by Sandra Simpson and led by John van Nostrand and Drew Sinclair, the program gained considerable momentum this year, with leaders across the development community joining the group. The cutting edge nature of the discussions and debate that are part of this group’s gatherings, and the artistic interactions were a highlight within the cultural calendar for artists and donors alike.
@APClarkson The Other Place at Canadian Stage is brilliant moving theatre superbly acted by Joe Cobden among others dazzlingly directed by Daniel Brooks
The Artist Underwriter program offered donors the opportunity to personally aid in advancing artists who are producing and presenting their work at Canadian Stage. This year, nine donors stepped forward as Artist Sponsors, raising over $100,000 to support the creation of some extraordinary new work. This is a priority program for Canadian Stage. Corporate and Foundation Support We are grateful for the tremendous loyalty from our long-time corporate supporters. This year we saw a 15% overall increase, including an increase of 25
“Canadian Stage organized this series to mark the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Nelson Mandela, and a tribute to the mastery and vitality of artists from South Africa” – CBC
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6% from renewing major sponsors. We continued to build new partnerships, welcoming two new corporations as sponsors. Canadian Stage’s signature Theatre Ball netted $300,000 in support for the company. Featuring highlights of the season and eclectic entertainment, our Committee worked tirelessly to welcome returning and new patrons to this annual celebration. Funding from Foundations continued to grow tremendously, with a year over year increase of 49% as a result of increased renewals coupled with the new support of two additional foundations. Government With an increase of 4% overall in funding from the public sector, we continued to enjoy stable and strong support from all levels of government. Canadian Stage is consistently recognized by these public funders as an industry leader for the breadth and interdisciplinarity of its programming. As we work to present innovative and vibrant performance work from an expanded spectrum of countries on our stages, we continued to build strong partnerships with foreign governments in support of this international work. This year, we witnessed the tangible enthusiasm for the Spotlight Festival among South African diplomats and officials, not only in financial, but also in personal investments. Special Projects The Spotlight Festival garnered increased funder attention. Its third instalment, Spotlight South Africa, was by far our most ambitious in length and scale, well-supported by special project funding of over $300,000 from the public and private sector including the Canadian and South African governments as well as in-kind donations and media sponsorship. Our fundraising team had a year of transition, collaboratively working cross-functionally and ending the year with restructered portfolios and dedicated to specific funding streams. We have a professional, lean and efficient team, focused on increasing raised revenue with minimal expenses. To this end, we have held expenses steady at just 7% of overall expenses and increased efficiency to just 16% (fundraising cost as % of donation), one of the lowest in the performing arts sector. I am delighted to have joined Canadian Stage and proud of our accomplishments this year. I look forward to working with our dedicated and ambitious staff team, senior volunteers, our Board of Directors and collaboratively with all departments to continue to build on the success of the organization. The enthusiasm and support of our generous donors has been integral to the success of Canadian Stage. We are honoured and immensely grateful to each and every one of our supporters for their strength of commitment to Canadian Stage. Cecelia Paolucci Director of Development 27
@ONStageLeft Canadian stage Titus Andronicus at High Park is a glorious mashup of treachery, revenge, murder and outrageous mayhem.
MFA program Our unique partnership with York University and its MFA in Theatre – Stage Direction program continues to establish itself as a cornerstone of our artist training pillar. Now entering its fifth year, we are delighted to look back at how the program has grown and helped provide the tools for some of tomorrow’s greatest artistic leaders and contributed to our theatrical culture. Our second intake of students, Matjash Mrozewski and Estelle Shook, spent much of 2014.15 completing their second year of MFA studies at York University while also preparing for directing two productions in collaboration with the Theatre Department in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design at York University. The 2015 edition of our popular Shakespeare in High Park series saw its two productions, Julius Caesar and The Comedy of Errors, directed by Shook and Mrozewski, respectively, and received by enthusiastic audiences. Shook and Mrozewski also began workshopping the premiere of Botticelli in the Fire and Sunday in Sodom, a new double-bill by Canadian playwright and recent Governor General’s Award Recipient for Drama, Jordan Tannahill. Tannahill is currently The Ontario Arts Council Playwright-in-Residence at Canadian Stage and was commissioned to write this double-bill especially to be presented as Shook’s and Mrozewski’s first directorial projects as graduates of the program, to be presented in April, 2016. Lead mentors Peter Hinton, former Artistic Director of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre, and Chris Abraham, Crow’s Theatre Artistic Director, guided the students over the two years, with the added supervision of Artistic and General Director Matthew Jocelyn. Canadian Stage’s participation in York University’s Master of Fine Arts in Stage Direction is made possible through the lead support of BMO Financial Group. Birgit Schreyer Duarte Dramaturg & Artistic Associate
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@WolfgangWebb Devastating final act. Brilliant cast. Thank you Harper Regan
Board of Directors Adrian Lang Chair Tony Baylis Vice Chair & Treasurer Robert Rowe Vice Chair Antoinette R. Tummillo Secretary Cathy Bateman Debbie Coull-Cicchini Councillor Paula Fletcher Dominique Hussey Ron Lalonde Cheryl Longo Peter Lyman Councillor Pam McConnell Barry Rowland Monika Skiba David Staines Noreen Taylor John van Nostrand Stuart Watson Cecilia Williams Susan Willmot Susan Wortzman
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canadian stage staff Artistic & General Director Matthew Jocelyn Managing Director Su Hutchinson Executive Coordinator Gianna Ceci
artistic Producer Sherrie Johnson Dramaturg & Artistic Associate Birgit Schreyer Duarte Company Manager Meghan Hunt Metcalf Foundation Performing Arts Producing Intern Aaron Willis
administration Controller Sandra Cesario Intermediate Accountant Sabrina Li Compensation Administrator Helen Hua Accounts Payable Coordinator Pathma Mahadeva
development Director of Development Cecelia Paolucci Associate Director, Government Relations Elise Chalmers Senior Development Officer, Corporate Partnerships Jason Maghanoy Coordinator, Special Events Kasia Rusiniak Manager, Individual Giving Leah Schoenmakers Development Assistant Brett Thompson 32
marketing & communications
production
Director of Marketing & Communications T.J. Tasker
Director of Production R Allan Ross
Associate Director of Communications Andrea Elalouf
Technical Director Billy Wolf
Senior Marketing and Communications Manager April Moon
Assistant Production Manager Heather Landon
Patron Systems Administrator Amar Bajracharya Education & Audience Development Manager Erin Schachter Graphic Design Manager Ted Glaszewski Digital Marketing Coordinator Nathan Kelly Education & Audience Development Coordinator Sarah Cooper Audience Services Manager Cory Bertrand Assistant Audience Services Manager Bri Proke Audience Services Supervisor Andrew Markowiak Audience Services Representatives Faisal Butt Peter Genoway Will King Dylan On Lilya Sultanova Kayla Vanderlip Telesales Manager Shawn Ahmed Telesales Representatives Michael Crumpton Elana Dunkelman Scott Leaver Front of House Manager Joseph Cochrane Bartenders Harrison Thomas Laurel Morgan
Assistant Technical Director Alanna McConnell Head of Properties Mary Spyrakis Operations Manager Mike Souliere Berkeley Senior Head Technician Jay Blencowe Berkeley Head Technician Cecilia Waszczuk Berkeley Junior Head Technician Monica Sass Wardrobe Mistress Susan Batchelor
shakespeare in high park Hill Supervisor Emma Alderman Gate Supervisor Zack Grosh Patron Services Supervisor Emily Tallmeister Youth and Community Outreach Coordinator Emily Jung Volunteer Coordinator Lisa Aikman Sound Technicians Vanessa Vai Kamil Wrzesniewski Dresser Michael Legouffe 33
14.15 season as you like it titus andronicus kiss & cry what makes a man helen lawrence older & reckless opus venus in fur the seagull the other place harper regan spotlight south africa needles and opium
December 1, 2015