Theatre Calgary started in the basement of an abandoned movie house. A high school drama classroom had a hand in it too, and the full story is even better.
It starts with a teacher, and you can meet her in our piece on Betty Mitchell and Workshop 14. In 1944 some of her students formed a company and named it after her classroom at Western Canada High School. A room number became a company name, and the company outlasted the school bell.
Now jump to 1963. Three friends, Don Boyes, Eddie Wong and Harry Pinchin, open the Musicians and Actors Club in the basement of the Isis, an abandoned downtown movie house. It starts as a social club. Then somebody has a better idea, and the upstairs turns into a theatre. By November 1964 they’ve staged A Taste of Honey, it’s a hit, and four seasons of contemporary plays follow.
Two groups, two very different starting points. One was born in a classroom, the other under a cinema. They joined forces as MAC 14. Theatre Calgary’s own history page dates that merger to 1966 and credits Kenneth Dyba with leading it.
July 1, 1968 is the day MAC 14 became Theatre Calgary, billed as the city’s first fully professional theatre company. Christopher Newton was its first artistic director, and he’d go on to run the Shaw Festival for more than twenty years. The opening bill was The Odd Couple, advertised that November.
The first home was the Betty Mitchell Theatre in the Allied Arts Centre, a remodelled tractor building with about 500 seats. In 1985 the company moved into the 750-seat Max Bell Theatre, in the building we now call the Werklund Centre. There’s an update on the Werklund Centre if you want to see how that building is changing.
Martin Kinch took over as artistic director in 1985, the same year the company moved into Max Bell, and the big stage meant big plans, with large-scale classics, period pieces and musicals. A bigger room brought a bigger audience and a bigger swing. Outgrowing your first home and getting the keys to a bigger one is a good feeling.
The stage kept making room for local voices. Over its first couple of decades the company premiered work by writers with Calgary and Alberta ties, including John Murrell, W.O. Mitchell and Sharon Pollock. It also tried big, crowd-pleasing things. Dracula landed in 1970. That same year a touring company called Caravan, led by Don Shipley, started up to bring plays to young audiences.
The leadership list reads like a who’s who of Canadian theatre people. After Newton came Harold Baldridge in 1972, Rick McNair in 1978, Martin Kinch in 1985, Brian Rintoul in 1991 and Ian Prinsloo in 1997. Caravan carried on too. By 1977 it had become the Stage-Coach Players under McNair, still carrying plays to young people.
Calgary showed up for it. In 1996 the theatre was deep in debt, and a public donation campaign raised $1 million. Between 1997 and 2005 the subscriber base grew from 3,600 to 8,600 while the books turned around. Not bad for a company that began in a basement club.
This story grew from small, friendly starting points. A teacher inspired students, some friends wanted a place to hang out, and the two threads wound together.
The Isis was derelict when the club moved into the basement. A building nobody wanted became the front door for a whole new chapter of Calgary theatre.
Read Theatre Calgary’s own history page, then catch a show on the stage the company still calls home. Bring a friend and tell them about the tractor building.
Sources: Theatre Calgary, Our History; The Canadian Encyclopedia, Theatre Calgary.
Next up for you is Alberta Theatre Projects Began in a 74-Year-Old Log Hall. After that, Calgary heard its first public radio in a movie theatre.
Related reading from us: The Palace Theatre in Calgary, Short and Sweet and The GRAND Theatre Has Played Many Parts Since 1912.
Quick answers
Theatre Calgary grew from two groups. In 1944 Betty Mitchell’s students formed Workshop 14, named after her classroom at Western Canada High School. In 1963 Don Boyes, Eddie Wong and Harry Pinchin opened the Musicians and Actors Club in the basement of the Isis, an abandoned downtown movie house. They joined as MAC 14.
MAC 14 became Theatre Calgary on July 1, 1968, billed as the city’s first fully professional theatre company. Christopher Newton was its first artistic director, and the opening bill was The Odd Couple. The first home was the Betty Mitchell Theatre in the Allied Arts Centre.
In 1985 Theatre Calgary moved into the 750 seat Max Bell Theatre, in the building now called the Werklund Centre. Its first home was the Betty Mitchell Theatre in the Allied Arts Centre, a remodelled tractor building with about 500 seats.
Yes. In 1996 the theatre was deep in debt, and a public donation campaign raised $1 million. Between 1997 and 2005 the subscriber base grew from 3,600 to 8,600 while the books turned around. That was a big turnaround for a company that began in a basement club.
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