Former Theatre Calgary artistic director Dennis Garnhum looks to move 'towards beauty' as he departs Grand in London

Former Theatre Calgary artistic director announced the 2023-24 season for the Grand Theatre in London last week, which will be his final season at the theatre after seven years as artistic director.

Last week was pretty notable for former Theatre Calgary artistic director Dennis Garnhum.

The 55-year-old writer and director did what he's been doing for the better part of two decades – he announced a new season of shows for The Grand Theatre in London, Ontario, his hometown where he's been the artistic director since 2017.

The poignant part was that it was Garnhum's last season announcement for the Grand, where he's stepping away after seven years on the job.

If you throw in the 11 seasons that Garnhum spent running Theatre Calgary, that's a lot of plays programmed, nurtured, developed and produced, thousands of artists hired, and plenty of laughter and tears shed trying to convince people in the 21st century that there's a reason to go to see a play tonight.

What's remarkable about Garnhum is that everywhere he goes, he has an uncanny knack - in a digital-first popular culture - for finding the secret recipe to get bums in seats, whether in Calgary or London.

That's not a small deal in an age of mass distraction and multiple streaming services in every household.

"It's a good time to go," Garnhum said, in a phone call with CTV News. "The theatre is in good shape.

"I'm in my happy place.  I was an artistic director for 18 years. I'm grateful for having had this time. I don't know what I'm gonna do (next)," he adds. "(But I'm going to) try to find something else."

'NEW HEIGHTS'

Garnhum, who was born and grew up in London and fell in love with theatre as a kid attending plays there, transformed it, says Grand executive director Evan Klassen.

"For the past seven years, through his passionate and visionary leadership, Dennis has taken the Grand to new heights – amplifying our presence on the world’s stage –  while also bringing some of the most compelling new works to the Grand’s stage, like Emma Donoghue’s Room," Klassen said, in an email to CTV News.

"Under Dennis’s leadership, the theatre also made great strides in our anti-oppression work, completed a comprehensive $9.5 million renovation, and navigated the challenges of COVID-19.

"Thanks to his guidance and resolve, the theatre is returning from the pandemic prepared and poised for a strong future. We are so grateful for all that Dennis has brought to his home theatre, and wish him nothing but the best as he explores grand new, creative endeavours."

Garnhum announced the 2023-24 season for the Grand, his final one as its artistic director

POST-PANDEMIC PERFORMING ARTS LANDSCAPE

The departure from running the Grand comes as the performing arts tries to climb out of the trauma inflicted upon it by the pandemic.

Back on Thursday, March 13, 2020, on the opening night of the North American premiere of Room, the stage adaptation of Emma Donahue's award-winning novel and Oscar-winning film, Garnhum and the staff held a meeting that every performing arts organization around the world held.

It turned out there was finally a reason why the show couldn't go on - and no one knew when it would be safe again to go out.

"Two months – that's how I long I thought we'd be closed for," Garnhum said. "It became two years."

He said he was forced to cancel 15 projects the theatre had already signed contracts for, forced to phone up all the set designers and actors and playwrights to let them know he was going to have to cancel their contracts.

It all ended with Garnhum bawling on his kitchen floor in London, having a complete emotional breakdown.

That's when Garnhum's husband Bruce suggested it was time for him to go for a long walk – more specifically, the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain, an 830 kilometre long walk in the Spanish back country to get his head cleared.

CAMINO DE SANTIAGO

The pandemic was still raging, but the one thing you could comfortably do was go for long outdoor walks but instead of running into hundreds of people a day, Garnhum says he ran into maybe 10 or 20.

It was therapy and it was cardio and the views were glorious.

At night, he'd check into an inn, and using a $40 keyboard that attached to his phone, type up his experiences and thoughts about the day.

By the time he finished the hike, he'd written 40,000 words, which became the bulk of Garnhum's first book: Toward Beauty: Reigniting a Creative Life on the Camino de Santiago.

Former Theatre Calgary artistic director Dennis Garnhum with his new book Towards Beauty: Reigniting a Creative Life on the Camino de Santiago

"COVID provided some insight," he says now. "We're all different because of it."

PIVOTING TO SOMETHING NEW

Now, a few years later, he's pivoting to something new – he's just not sure what. There's another Camino hike planned with Bruce, this one through Portugal. He's directing productions of Clue in London and then again in Winnipeg next winter.

Room was rescheduled for 2021, then omnicrom happened and had to be postponed again.

Finally in March 2022, Room opened to strong reviews, leading to a Broadway-bound production.

Two weeks ago, almost unbelievably, just ahead of the first preview performance, one of the show's producers pulled out, and the production shuttered its doors before it could even open.

It was as theatre a thing as you ask for – the bottom fell out at the worst possible moment, forcing Room to shut down again on the cusp of opening night. But who knows? It sounds like a good show. Maybe it will make it to Broadway eventually.

As for Garnhum, he doesn't know whether the future holds running another theatre, or dipping into film, or fiction – but he gained a bit of insight into what he can bring to the table while hoofing along the trail in Spain.

"I need to keep moving toward beauty," he says. "(The) beauty created in chaos of last five years was the clarity of it."

And for the next generation of artistic directors, all of whom must face a board of directors and offer a vision of the future, at a time when everything seems so very uncertain, what advice would he offer?

"It (a show) has to be unmissable," he says.  "It's also on us as storytellers."

'Room' hits the Grand Theatre main stage March 8, 2022 after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Nick Paparella / CTV News)

And then he has to go – the Grand is presenting a six hour production of Fall on Your Knees, an adaptation of a beloved novel by Anne-Marie MacDonald – and there are things to do.

Six hours (presented in two parts)? Who has six hours? Do you know how many TikTok videos a person can watch in six hours?

"It's good!" Garnhum says. "Selling beautifully.People are gonna come see. 

"I am the optimist," he adds. "(There's still a) core need for live theatre.

"It's the most exciting time in my (personal) history," he says, "to be in the theatre."