From Theatre Calgary

As one of Calgary’s premier theatre companies, Theatre Calgary struggles to create a delicate balance for their audience. They tend to be known for more crowd-pleasing plays, but in recent years have programmed more challenging fare, as well. Last year showed a mix of both — crowds were entranced with the spectacle of Beauty and the Beast and A Christmas Carol, but were also challenged by more morbid and gritty fare like The Wars and Vigil. Get prepared to dive headfirst into another great year of theatre, because if there was ever a season to pick up tickets for, this would be the one.

“One of our taglines for this year is ‘leap of faith,’” says artistic director Dennis Garnhum. “It’s this really beautiful image of jumping off, of jumping into this live theatre experience. Part of what I was looking at [when I was programming the season] was what hasn’t been done by Theatre Calgary in my time before, and what kinds of diversity we haven’t explored yet.”

Garnhum is trying to expand and look for more ways to change up the repertoire of the beloved company. Now that it’s reached its 41st season, Theatre Calgary isn’t going through so much as a mid-life crisis as a mid-life desire to try new things. So Garnhum is looking for plays that keep audiences on their toes while keeping their asses in the seats.

“We haven’t had an all-black cast before, so that’s really exciting,” says Garnhum of the season’s first show, A Raisin in the Sun. “There’s all sorts of religious questions in Doubt, and Skydive features these two men flying. We haven’t done an Oscar Wilde play [An Ideal Husband] in years. I would suspect most people in Calgary haven’t seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in its musical form.”

The season opens with A Raisin in the Sun, a collaboration with Soul Pepper Theatre Company. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play on Broadway to be directed by an African-American and also the first Broadway play written by an African-American woman. Next up is the play Skydive, written by Vancouver playwright Kevin Kerr. Featuring some exquisite aerial choreography, this tale starts off with two brothers skydiving, with the sudden realization that one of them won’t survive the jump — his parachute fails to release its chute.

The third play on the docket is the heartwarming, perennial favourite, A Christmas Carol. As the calendar for 2009 goes up, so does Doubt: A Parable, a tense tale of religion and morality, and one that Garnhum is especially excited for Calgary audiences to see.

“I saw this play opening night on Broadway and New York was absolutely out of their mind about it,” he says. “I can’t remember a time when I’ve been in a theatre and been so challenged and had my brain so charged.”

During this year’s High Performance Rodeo, they’re working with building-mates One Yellow Rabbit to bring Catalyst Theatre’s gorgeous Frankenstein to the festival. Back on the mainstage, the next play is Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband. Lastly, to close out the season with a bang, is the 1988 film-to-musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Garnhum is directing, and he promises it won’t be like his previous dark and gritty fair.

“After The Wars, I wanted a break and to show that I actually have a funny side,” he laughs. “It’s a goofy, goofy musical. It’s not a romance, it’s just laugh-out-loud goofiness.”