January 18, 2005 -

OTTAWA -- The National Arts Centre announced today that it has formed a search committee to identify candidates for the position of Artistic Director for English Theatre at the NAC. Last fall, the NAC announced that Marti Maraden, one of Canada’s foremost stage directors, would be stepping down from her role as Artistic Director during the 2005-2006 season. Ms. Maraden has been Artistic Director at the NAC since 1997.

The Search Committee is comprised of Jackie Maxwell, the Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival, Paul Lefebvre, Assistant to Denis Marleau, the Artistic Director of French Theatre at the National Arts Centre and Alex Gazalé, Director of Production at the National Arts Centre.

The role of Artistic Director for English Theatre in Canada is one of the most important and influential roles in Canada’s theatre community given the National Arts Centre’s dual national and regional mandate.

In addition to developing, producing, and presenting an English language theatre programme in the National Capital Region, NAC English Theatre is one of Canada’s most important co-producers, working with theatre companies across the country. Over the past three years, the NAC has co-produced 17 plays with theatre companies from across Canada.

Each year the NAC hosts On the Verge, a significant annual national festival of new play readings that has become an important event for playwrights from across the country. The NAC is also the co-presenter of Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Canada’s national festival of contemporary Canadian theatre in English. And the NAC is the home to the national finals of the Canadian Improv Games in which thousands of high school students compete each year.

English Theatre’s season consists of a 5-play Mainstage series, a 3-play alternative Studio series, special presentations, family, youth and education activities, and a new play development programme.

The NAC plans to have a new Artistic Director in place by the fall of 2005 to work alongside with Ms. Maraden for a number of months before she steps down from her role at the NAC. While leading English Theatre at the NAC, Ms. Maraden played a major role in helping the NAC deliver on its strategic goals, including a far greater emphasis on original production, on the NAC’s national presence, on new play development, and on youth and education activities.

For the 2004-2005 season, Ms. Maraden directed Love’s Labour’s Lost to critical acclaim as part of the NAC’s Mainstage Series. Ms. Maraden also directed Trying, the Canadian premiere of Joanna McClelland Glass’ new work. Her production of Trying will be remounted in Toronto by co-production partner CanStage in the spring of 2005.

For more information, please contact:
Jayne Watson, Director
Communications
(613) 947-7000, Ext. 260
jwatson@nac-cna.ca