The world’s unhealthy economic situation played a role in Theatre Calgary artistic director Dennis Garnhum’s programming of the 2009-2010 season.

“This isn’t the year to get all down and depressed, to talk about how life sucks,” says Garnhum. “We need to see more hope in the world.” Hence, the theme of Theatre Calgary’s upcoming season: Lift Your Spirits.

The season opens with a world premiere of W.O. Mitchell’s classic tale, Jake and the Kid (Sept. 8 to 27).

“This was all Theatre Calgary’s idea,” explains Garnhum, about adapting and staging the play. Theatre Calgary even commissioned Edmonton playwright Conni Massing to write the adaptation.

Jake will be followed by Canadian playwright Morris Panych’s 7 Stories (Oct. 13 to Nov. 1).

It tells the story of a man who is on the 7th-storey ledge of an apartment building, preparing to jump. Just before his feet leave the edge, a bunch of “zany inhabitants interrupt his train of thought.”

“It’s hysterical, but not in an obvious way. You have to listen,” says Garnhum.

Panych is the playwright behind The Overcoat and Vigil, both of which have appeared on Theatre Calgary’s stage during the past couple of seasons.

Theatre Calgary’s annual holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol (Nov. 20 to Dec. 27), returns, once again starring Stephen Hair as Scrooge.

In January, in conjunction with One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo, there will be a special production of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit (Jan. 27 to 31).

This is the second year in a row that Theatre Calgary will participate in the Rodeo. The first time was this past season, with a highly successful production of Frankenstein.

Vancouver’s Electric Company Theatre— the same group responsible for The Hauntings of Eadweard Muybridge at Alberta Theatre Projects — is behind No Exit.

“The Electric Company takes this classic French play and turns it upside down,” says Garnhum.

There’s a hotel room offstage in which three people find themselves trapped. Surveillance cameras tape their every move in the room, which the theatre audience then watches on a big screen onstage. “It’s half cinema, half live theatre,” says Garnhum. “Calgary hasn’t seen anything like this before.”

Calgary won’t have seen anything like the next play at Theatre Calgary, as well —Bruce Ruddell’s Beyond Eden (Feb. 16 to March 7), starring Tom Jackson and Spirit of the West’s John Mann.

“The overall scope of this project is huge,” says Garnhum. “In terms of the overall scale, this is the biggest production in our history.”

The rock musical is based on the true story of a group of anthropologists and archaeologists who, in 1957, travelled to the Queen Charlotte Islands and removed some totem poles for preservation. The clash of cultures and the history of the Haida people, play a large part in the story, a story which Ruddell has been working on since 1984.

Betrayal (March 23 to April 11), by Harold Pinter, has the unenviable task of following Eden.

Pinter, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 2005, tells the story of a seven-year adulterous affair, starting at the end and working back to the beginning. Through this unusual structure, Betrayal examines the nature and price of, well, betrayal.

Finishing off the season is another musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (April 20 to May 9) — winner of two Tony Awards in 2005 — starring Gavin Crawford of This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Max Bell Theatre will be transformed into a school gym as a group of young spellers compete for the top prize at a spelling bee championship.

Of course, there are lots of mishaps and dramas along the way.

“It’s a good way to end the season, some really stupid fun,” laughs Garnhum.