NOTE TO USERS Page(s) not included in the original manuscript and are unavailable from the author or university. The manuscript was scanned as received. 199,200 This reproduction is the best copy available. ® UMI UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Calgary Theatre and Its Community: The Current State of the Relationship and Possible Renegotiations for the Future by Judy Lawrence A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2008 © Judy Lawrence 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-44236-4 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-44236-4 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada ABSTRACT In examining Calgary's not-for-profit theatre sector in relation to its larger community, this thesis considers the sector's key support agencies: the private sector, government, and audiences. Questions concerning the sector's relationship to these agencies are framed within the context of recent national and international discourse over a city's creative capacity. Following available local statistics (1989 - current), it finds audience declines and other evidence indicating Calgary's theatre community is further marginalized from its broader community now than previously; it considers other observable trends - decreases in government support alongside increases in ticket prices, corporate sponsorship, and others - as possible impacting factors. It offers insights, observations and concerns from professional theatre practitioners in Calgary. Its final chapter explores options for renegotiating the theatre sector's relationship to community; with a focus on the general public and the education system, more integrated, less quantitatively defined approaches between artists, audiences and education are proposed. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe much thanks and gratitude to my supervisor Dr. James Dugan, who created a place of permission and expansion; he granted me the freedom to explore, the guidance to provide informed touchstones for my flights, and meaningful encouragement to keep flying. I also want to thank Dr. Penny Farfan and Dr. Barry Yzereef; I drew greatly from their support, confidence and interest in my work and from the general ambience of rigour and courage each of them inspires. Thanks, too, to my student colleagues and friends, and especially to my officemate Ian Prinsloo; the energy and friendship you brought to our office created both a wonderfully safe harbour and a marvelous maelstrom of unbridled possibilities, insight, and bravery. Thank you. My pursuit of extant sources of statistical information was only possible because of the support and encouragement (and materials) I received from the staff at Calgary Arts Development Authority, from Michael Dickinson at the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, from the research department at Canada Council for the Arts, and from the staff at Council for Business and the Arts in Canada. Thanks, too, to Johanne Deleeuw and Alberta Playwrights Network. I reserve special thanks to all the theatre artists and practitioners who took their valuable time and shared with me their invaluable experiences, and allowed their perceptions, insights and concerns to inform and deepen this study. And finally, thank you, Richard, for providing the love and generosity to allow me this journey, and then to travel it with me, in the myriad of roles you played along the way: at times and often simultaneously my sounding board, masterful editor, sympathetic ear, devil's advocate, fellow arts practitioner, and, always, love of my life and lifelong companion. iv DEDICATION To Richard. TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Page ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Dedication v Table of Contents vi List of Tables viii PROLOGUE: The Personal, The Professional, and the Universal 1 CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 4 CHAPTER TWO: Government Relations: Calgary Theatre Companies' Relationship with Their Key Public Sector Supporters CHAPTER THREE: Corporate Affairs: Calgary Theatre Companies' Relationship with Their Key Private Sector Supporter 35 CHAPTER FOUR: Audiences: What We Know and What We Don't Know 51 CHAPTER FIVE: Perspectives from the Source: Theatre Artists and Practitioners 72 CHAPTER SIX: What Now?: Conclusions, Considerations, Possibilities 90 ENDNOTES 103 BIBLIOGRAPHY 142 APPENDIX I: Calgary Theatre Companies: Government Support per Company as Percentage of Total Budgets, 1990-2005 158 APPENDIX II: Calgary Theatre Companies: Distribution of All Revenues (Earned, Government, Private) 162 APPENDIX III: Government Funding: Absolute Dollars, Calgary Theatre Companies: Canada Council 166 vi APPENDIX IV: Government Funding: Absolute Dollars, Calgary Theatre Companies: Alberta Foundation for the Arts 1'"° APPENDIX V: Government Funding: Absolute Dollars, Calgary Theatre Companies: Calgary Region Arts Foundation 172 APPENDIX VI: CRAF Funding History From Inception (1969-2006).. 176 APPENDIX VII: Canada Council Funding History From Inception (1957-2006) 177 APPENDIX VIII: Grant Applications Analysis: Calgary Arts Development, AFA, Canada Council 179 APPENDIX IX: Calgary Theatre Companies Sorted by Age (including amateur and professional) 184 APPENDIX X: Calgary Theatre Companies: Status of Participation and Budget Size 186 APPENDIX XI: Four Calgary Theatre Companies: Accumulated Debt and Audience Trends 190 APPENDIX XII: Corporate Website Source Listing 192 APPENDIX XIII: Theatre Practitioners Interviewed and Biographies... 194 APPENDIX XIV: Ethics Approval and Interviewee Consent Form 199 APPENDIX XV: Interview Guideline of Questions. 205 vii LIST OF TABLES Table I: Calgary Theatre Companies: 1989-90 Revenue Streams 26 Table II: Calgary Theatre Companies: current (2004-05 to 2005-06) Revenue Streams 26 Table III: Calgary Theatre Companies: Private Sector Support, 2004-05 109 Table IV: Theatre Companies: Current Private Revenues, Percentage of Support Ill Table V: Segment Proportions: 2006 vs. 2001 55 Table VI: Past Twelve Months Arts Attendance 56 Table VII: Tracking Types of Performances Attended 57 Table VIII: Tracking Enjoyment of the Performing Arts 58 Table IX: Changes in Performing Arts Attendance by Income 63 Table X: Changes in Performing Arts Attendance by Education 63 Table XI: Changes in Performing Arts Attendance by Age 126 viii 1 Prologue: the Personal, the Professional, and the Universal When I began this quest to understand better my theatre community here in Calgary and the conditions of our ability to create and to relate to a larger community to which we looked for support, it was very personal. It came from a place of anger, betrayal and vulnerability. I have been a producing practitioner with various leadership roles in the field for the last twenty-five years, most of those years in Alberta, the last ten of which have been in Calgary. I felt very strongly that my ability to articulate with any degree of authenticity why I or anyone else should want art in their life had been so badly compromised that I no longer knew the answer myself. I had been forced/allowed myself to spend so much time and energy being answerable to other people about our admirable capacity to run a business, to brand ourselves accurately, to attract corporate support and paying audiences - to execute successfully a myriad of best business practices in order to sell our product efficiently and effectively in a competitive marketplace - that, ironically, I felt totally incapacitated. I had lost my own language, my own ability to articulate my sense of values and of my belief system; I doubted I could even identify what that belief system was. As I stumbled through the last few eye opening years of freelancing, I realized that as my capacity