“I don’t understand, so I’m interested.” This is Mark Lawes’s philosophy on creating a Calgarian cultural art house at Theatre Junction. For the upcoming 2007-08 season, Lawes introduces five shows of local, national and international talents and their diverse cultural perspectives to Calgary. The season begins with European theatre legend Peter Brook telling a story of South African apartheid in Sizwe Banzi is Dead. In November, Marie Brassard experiments with sound in Peepshow. February brings a new Resident Company of Artists (RCA) show, whose Little Red River deals with “memory, the West, death and desire.” In April, Australia’s Circa showcases a collection of 61 Circus Acts in 60 Minutes, and Montreal dance phenomenon Marie Chouinard polishes off the season with The Rite of Spring in May.

            Lawes is determined to bring relevant performances to Calgary, whether the city is ready for them or not. “If I look at the seasons across the country, it’s not only an amazing season for Calgary,” explains Lawes, “it really stacks up as a great season for the country, and it’s happening in Calgary. I think that’s really significant and speaks a lot about our city and what we’re becoming. The idea of presenting work nationally and internationally — that hasn’t been happening season after season, so people in Calgary haven’t been exposed to that kind of work. It’s a challenge to let people know how important these (artists) are in western culture.”

            International theatre legend Brook directs Theatre Junction’s first show, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, which addresses repression and apartheid while asking, “what makes a man?” Lawes touts this production as the focal point of the season, and possibly Western Canada’s last chance to see the work of this celebrated director and 82-year-old master of theatre research.

            The South African two-hander, performed in French with English subtitles, is followed by the work of solo artist Marie Brassard. Her production, Peepshow, focuses its simple set on her unique aural techniques. First performed at the Festival Transameriques in Montreal, Brassard uses sound-distortion technology to communicate the music and tones of human thoughts. Marie Chouinard, another artist heralding from Montreal, finishes the season with the dance performance The Rite of Spring, which fuses the intense rhythms of Igor Stravinsky’s score with avant-garde choreography.

            “Robert Lepage, Marie Brassard and Marie Chouinard are a part of the movement that has happened in Montreal over the last 15 to 20 years. I wanted to bring that show to us,” says Lawes. “We live in this world that’s becoming smaller and smaller, so for me it’s really important to have different windows to look through. When you look through the window of an artist that’s working in Montreal, she has a different perspective on the world than Peter Brook does, or than I do, and exposing our audience to that kind of diversity brings us closer together. It gives a diversity of perspectives.”

            In between the two Montreal shows is Australia’s Circa, boasting 61 Circus Acts in 60 Minutes. Its family-friendly carnival atmosphere emphasizes the range of Theatre Junction. Just as Circa explores and extends the limits of what a circus can do, Lawes explores the limits of collaborative theatre with the RCA. From his work with Ann Bogart’s SITI Company in upstate New York, Lawes gleaned ideas and techniques to bring home to Calgary. While he won’t divulge the new cast list, he’ll be working from a similar blueprint as last season and collaborating with actors, dancers, musicians and visual artists. In his letter to subscribers, Lawes says the original work, entitled Little Red River, expresses his “personal vision of contemporary theatre originating in Calgary.”

            From cultivating a vision through the RCA to soliciting shows at the Festival D’Avignon in France, Lawes searches for a new, diverse perspective on theatre. He resolutely challenges audiences to look through another window into foreign realms of performance. “We’re all in it together,” Lawes explains. “We’re in a culture of conforming, following rules, following the conventions that exist in our society. Theatre is a great opportunity to go into a world where the rules can be broken, and where there’s a potential for something new to happen.”