Whether it’s new work, classics, musicals, tragedies or comedies, Theatre Calgary strives to heighten the entertainment value of live theatre, says artistic director Dennis Garnhum. Calgary’s oldest theatre company has presented a wide range of plays. “We try to make sure that there is a balance of the most exciting plays and musicals in any given year,” says Garnhum. “We provide a well-rounded base of the theatre arts. I use that word, popular, which I think is a good word.” This means one can see familiar titles like The Great Gatsby and Mary Poppins next to the works by legendary dramatist George Bernard Shaw or the premiere of a work such as celebrated Canadian novelist Timothy Findlay’s The Wars, all of which Theatre Calgary has produced.
The Theatre Calgary season runs throughout the year, and performances are staged at the Max Bell Theatre in Arts Commons (formerly the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts). Programming includes the Mainstage series and summer Shakespeare On the Bow series. Garnhum says he gets most excited about the company’s annual FUSE series. It strives to bring new plays alongside the classics by publicly workshopping and producing them. “We just presented Liberation Days by David Van Belle. This was a Calgary playwright’s story of the Canadian liberation of the Dutch. There are all indications that it will have a big future in theatre across the country.”
While FUSE normally develops new Canadian plays, in 2016 it will go international when it premieres Nick Lloyd Webber’s adaptation of The Little Prince. And, yes, he is related. Nick is Broadway legend Andrew Llloyd’s son. A chance introduction between Garnhum and Webber in London initiated the collaboration, but it was solidified after Webber travelled to Calgary and was suitably impressed by Theatre Calgary’s style.
