…our society is in danger and bleeding from a gaping wound in its chest. If we, as artists, do not have the wherewithal to look life square in the face, then we have no business telling other people what they should and should not feel.

In my first team meeting I looked around and found myself surrounded by main characters. None fit into a set type and the room vibrated with charisma. I, by contrast, was a jumped up kid coming off 7 months without a real job. At a certain point I was bound to feel like I must have pulled the wool over somebody’s eyes.

The task at the outset was deceptively simple: Program a 193-seat theatre and build and develop relationships between Contemporary Calgary and other cultural organizations. In practice, the task was neither modest in scope, nor simple in character. 

You wouldn’t sell a piece of shit to some guy you went to highschool with two years ago would you?