Fall Message from the Managing Director
The Professional Association of Canadian Theatre recently released a study that found 80% of Canadians believe live theatre is important to making communities both vibrant places to live and helping attract visitors. Looking at Chemainus and the Cowichan region, this certainly holds true as the Chemainus Theatre has become a cultural and economic cornerstone drawing close to 70,000 theatre goers per year to our artsy seaside corner of the Island.
Even on the broad national scene, Chemainus plays an integral role. Last year, roughly 8 million tickets were sold for live theatre across our country. This means 1 out of every 114 people who attended a theatre performance in Canada did so by visiting the Chemainus Theatre.
Theatre plays a key role creating vibrancy and drawing us together to help create and support that elusive sense of community. Even if it’s just for a few hours as an audience sharing a collective experience, theatre is a living breathing thing that flourishes and grows with greater participation.
Pamela recently completed her tenure as the Artistic Director of Lunchbox Theatre (Calgary, AB) and is the former Artistic Producer of Ship’s Company Theatre (Parrsboro, NS). In her 10 years between these two companies she directed and/or produced over 60 productions, the majority of them premieres of new works. Pamela is Artistic Adviser to Valley Summer Theatre (Wolfville, NS), Artistic Producer of DMV Theatre (Halifax, NS) and the PERFORM! Coordinator for Theatre Nova Scotia. Recent credits include: directing Mass Appeal for Valley Summer Theatre and The Net for Theatre New Brunswick, directing and dramaturging the world premieres of Never A Syllable for Onelight Theatre and Bingo Ladies for Lunchbox Theatre, and producing White Rabbit, Red Rabbit for DMV Theatre. She also returned recently to Lunchbox to curate and coordinate the 27th Suncor Energy Stage One Festival. In 2013, Pamela was awarded the inaugural Evans Award at the Calgary Critics’ Awards for her contribution to the vibrancy of the Calgary theatre community. She recently returned to Nova Scotia and is thrilled to be back living by the sea.
