Theatre North West is going to experience a revolution of staying pretty much the same.
The 20-year-old professional theatre company, one of the most successful of its ilk in Canada, has thrived even through tough economic times by appealing to mainstream audience sensibilities while introducing new or challenging theatrical elements in small but unmistakable doses.
Brand-new artistic director Jack Grinhaus could have come through the doors waving manifestos for change. He could be an advocate for the avant-garde, thirsty for musical theatre blockbusters, convinced that battering the audience's complacency was the way to take the city's cultural identity to the next level.
No. The reason he had a respect for Theatre North West (TNW) all the way over in Toronto, when the artistic director's job came available, was because the TNW commitment to quality, accessible drama and comedy was so lovingly embraced by Prince George audiences. Also, by the Canadian acting community that has benefited handsomely from the slate of plays the company has produced over the years.
It is what attracted him and his equally qualified wife Lauren Brotman (she is a Dora Award-winning actor and received the prestigious Christopher Plummer Fellowship) to consider Prince George.
"You get to a certain point in your life when things change. When our son was born, Lauren and I could no longer live the Bohemian theatre life," said Grinhaus. "We had been very successful at that but artistic leadership was something I had been building towards, it was a dream of mine and it was only growing, so there was this culmination of our background experiences, my taste for a certain career direction, the birth of our son, and this position opening up. It felt like this was exactly what I'd been building towards my whole life."
He has run a theatre company before, in fact. He and Brotman are co-proprietors of Bound To Create Theatre, which stages productions and also teaches theatrical skills courses - and there is no reason that company needs to close just because it's in a new location.
Grinhaus was most recently the apprenticing artistic director for the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, but his credits as a director and actor (and other stagecraft jobs) can be traced all over Ontario and New York.
The Canadian theatre industry is a small world, so despite being on the eastern side of the country, the Prince George condition was known to Grinhaus, and as he researched the area during the application process, and since he got the job at TNW, he got the sense that this city has a long, colourful history with live performance.
"I have an understanding of the role theatre plays in people's lives, and I see already that this city appreciates that and has an understanding of that as well," he said. "This community has a connection to theatre, specifically with Theatre North West but in many other ways. That is a challenge I am excited and honoured to take up. When you work in this field, you are connecting with minds, you are having public conversations, you are setting up people in vulnerable ways to convey concepts about society and life, and at the basest level you are doing your best to make people laugh and feel and react emotionally to something you're doing for them on a stage. Theatre, like all art, is there to reflect your world back to you in interesting and thought-provoking ways. It is communication within a group and as a group. That's how we learn and grow as a society, and it is such a privilege for me to be in a city that gets that, and invests in that, and celebrates that, and asks me to do the best job of that that we can do together."
Please forgive Grinhaus his amazement, said TNW's marketing and development officer Carli Staub.
"Jack has been astonished at the generosity of Prince George, and when you aren't used to that, who can blame him?," said Staub, who is also only weeks into the position having come from a previous position with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. "Ever since he got here, all he hears from people is 'what can we do to help? what does TNW need?' and I have really loved sharing that part of my community with him. There is no sense of silos. I learned that a long time ago working with other organizations and volunteering for things. We are all trying to help each other out and do what's best for the city. A professional, high-quality theatre company is what's best for the city. So is a professional symphony. So is a WHL hockey team. So is a not-for-profit sector that helps engage kids. We all work together to make all these things happen, and Jack is getting his eyes opened right now because there aren't many communities in Canada that offer that kind of support on a personal level and business-to-business level."
Grinhaus said he intends for that relationship to be reciprocal. He and Brotman are shopping for a house, they intend to put down roots so schools will be needed, and they like to be out and active.
"I'm already head over heels for Prince George, sold, I'm totally in," he said, "and Lauren is someone who is an incredible community member. That aspect is really important to both of us. You step up and take part in the place you live. It is a deep, deep focus for both of us, and we have been told pretty clearly that whatever we might be interested in, there is probably a way to do it here."
Oh yeah, and there is a series of plays that have to be directed and stage-created, a wine festival to operate, sponsors and partners to work with, and all kinds of new ideas that came packed in the baggage brought by these two experienced professionals in the theatre craft.
The first play of the season, the Canadian classic Billy Bishop Goes to War, opens on Sept. 25. Seasons passes are on sale now at Books and Company.
