Alberta Theatre Projects ("ATP") is a professional,
not-for-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
,
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...
company, founded in 1972 by Lucille Wagner and Douglas Riske, currently based out of the
Martha Cohen Theatre in
Arts Commons
Arts Commons (Formerly EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts) is a multi-venue arts centre in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada, located in the Olympic Plaza Cultural District.
Occupying a full city block, Arts Commons is a multi-level complex m ...
, in
Calgary,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. The company is well-known in Canada and internationally for its development of new,
Canadian plays
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
and the art of
dramaturgy.
Founded by Lucille Wagner and Douglas Riske, ATP started as a children's theatre company in 1972 specializing in historical plays and has grown into one of the largest producers of new plays in Canada.
Originally based in the 198 seat
Canmore Opera House at Calgary's Heritage Park, in 1985 the company moved to its current home, the 419-seat Georgian-style Martha Cohen Theatre in Calgary's downtown core. It is currently one of 7 resident arts companies in Arts Commons (formerly known as the Calgary Centre for the Performing Arts), a facility designed by Theatre Project Consultants of London, England, and the original acoustical design was provided by Artec Consultants of New York.
It is also one of ten 'Cornerstone Arts Institutions' in the city, as designated by the Calgary Arts Development Agency.
Over the course of its history, ATP has produced more than 288 Canadian plays and premiered over 156 works by Canadian playwrights which have gone on to win over 39 major awards.
Between 1985 and 2000,
Allan Rae was composer-in-residence at ATP and many of ATP's productions have featured his original music.
Artistic/producing directors have included Douglas Riske (1972–83), D. Michael Dobbin (1983-2000), Bob White (1999-2009). Vanessa Porteous was appointed as Artistic Director in 2009, becoming the first female Artistic Director in the company's history. In 2018, Darcy Evans was named Executive and Artistic Director.
2017-18 Season
* The Last Wife - by
Kate Hennig - Sept. 12-30, 2017
* To The Light - by
Évelyne de la Chenelière, Translated by John Murrell - Oct. 17 - Nov. 4, 2017
* E.B. White's Charlotte's Web - Adapted by Joseph Robinette - Nov. 21 - Dec. 31, 2017
* Empire of the Son - by
Tetsuro Shigematsu
Tetsuro Shigematsu (born 1971) is a playwright/performer, filmmaker, comedian, and Canadian radio broadcaster. He was the final host of CBC Radio One's former afternoon series '' The Roundup'', where he replaced Bill Richardson in 2004, making h ...
- Jan. 16-28, 2018
* Constellations - by Nick Payne - Feb. 20 - Mar. 10, 2018
* GLORY - by Tracey Power - Apr. 3-21, 2018
Productions
Annually, ATP produces six contemporary plays as part of a season that runs from September to April. Recent productions include ''
Shakespeare's Dog'' (
Leon Rooke
Leon Rooke, CM (born September 11, 1934) is a Canadian novelist. He was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina in the United States. Educated at the University of North Carolina, he moved to Canada in 1969. He now lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Rook ...
, adapted by
Rick Chafe), ''
I, Claudia
''I, Claudia'' is a one-woman play starring Kristen Thomson, which was adapted into a movie, shown on CBC's ''Opening Night (TV series), Opening Night'' and at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The play and film, written by Thomson, is a ...
'' (
Kristen Thomson
Kristen Thomson (born 1966) is a Canadian actress and playwright.
Thomson was born in Toronto, Ontario. She is known for her one-woman play ''I, Claudia'', which was adapted to film in 2004. In that play and film, Thomson plays all of the roles ...
), ''Toad of Toad Hall'' (Kenneth Grahame, adapted by Philip Goulding). ATP has also presented work by Canadian companies such as: Theatre Newfoundland Labrador,
Ronnie Burkett
Ronnie Burkett, OC is a Canadian puppeteer, best known for his original theatrical plays for adults, performed with marionettes. Burkett, who hails from Medicine Hat, was the puppeteer for Ralph on the TV Ontario series '' Harriet's Magic Hats'' ...
Theatre of Marionettes, Mammalian Diving Reflex, The Old Trout Puppet Workshop, and Crow's Theatre.
, playwright for ''Another Home Invasion'' which premiered at the 2009 , was nominated for a 2009 Governor General's Literary Award.
Hannah Moscovitch
Hannah Moscovitch (born June 5, 1978) is a Canadian playwright who rose to national prominence in the 2000s. She is best known for her plays ''East of Berlin'', ''This Is War'', "Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story", and '' Sexual Misconduct of the Mi ...
, playwright for ''East of Berlin'' which was one of the ATP cornerstone plays in the 2008/2009 season, was also nominated.
Founded by Producing Director D. Michael Dobbin, the was piloted in 1987, and was a leading performing arts event of the 1988 Olympic Arts Festival in Calgary. As of 2008/2009, the has produced 99 world premiere plays. 271 subsequent productions of 64 of these plays have appeared across Canada soon after the festival. There have been over 235 productions of plays premiered at the throughout Canada and around the world. The festival came to an end in 2013, when the company decided to program more new, Canadian plays as part of its regular season, rather than as part of a festival model.
As part of the , ATP has produced work by over 70 Canadian playwrights, including
Linda Griffiths
Linda Pauline Griffiths (7 October 1953 – 21 September 2014) was a Canadian actress and playwright best known for writing and starring in the one woman play ''Maggie and Pierre'', in which she portrayed both Pierre Trudeau and his then-estran ...
,
Colleen Murphy,
, Conni Massing, Eugene Stickland,
Stephen Massicotte,
,
Sally Clark,
Wendy Lill
Wendy Lill (born November 2, 1950) is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and radio dramatist who served as an NDP Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2004. Her stage plays have been performed extensively in theatres across Canada as well as inter ...
,
Brad Fraser
Brad Fraser (born June 28, 1959 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and cultural commentator.Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof"Fraser, Brad" ''Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia'', June 2, 2019. He is one of the most widely pr ...
,
Guillermo Verdecchia
Guillermo Verdecchia (born December 7, 1962) is a Canadian theatre artist.
Verdecchia was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and came to Canada at the age of two. He was raised in Kitchener, Ontario. Verdecchia received an undergraduate degree in th ...
,
Janet Munsil,
Sean Dixon,
Michael O'Brien, Amiel Gladstone,
Donna-Michelle St. Bernard and
Sky Gilbert
Schuyler Lee (Sky) Gilbert Jr. (born December 20, 1952) is a Canadian writer, actor, academic and drag performer. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, he studied theatre at York University in Toronto, Ontario, and at the University of Toronto
Th ...
.
References
External links
Alberta Theatre Projects
{{authority control
Theatre companies in Alberta
Theatre in Calgary