Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Great Canadian Theatre Company
Theatre company and venue in Ottawa, Ontario , founded in 1975 by professors and students from Carleton University, including Bill Law (Artistic Director, 1976-78), Robin Mathews, Larry McDonald (AD 1978-81), Greg Reid, and Lois Shannon (founding AD). Patrick McDonald was AD from 1982-88, and was instrumental in GCTC's development as a professional company. He was followed by Steven Bush (1982-91), Arthur Milner (1991-95), Micheline Chevrier (1995-99), and Lorne Pardy (1999-2005). Lise Ann Johnson was appointed AD in November 2005.
The GCTC first performed at the university, then at the Old Firehall (now the Ottawa South Community Centre) and from 1982 in a converted truck garage on Gladstone Avenue. In 2007 it relocated to the newly constructed Greenberg Theatre Centre in the community of Hintonburg. The environmentally responsible complex includes a 262-seat theatre, a residential tower, a bar and coffee shop, and an art gallery.
Photo by Peter Calamairi
The company's mandate is “to foster, produce and promote excellent theatre that provokes examination of Canadian life and [Canadians'] place in the world.” GCTC is committed to the production of new Canadian work through a play development program, each season commissioning emerging and established playwrights and workshopping new plays. They also operate The Playwrights’ Unit, which gives playwrights the opportunity to work with a dramaturge.
GCTC has produced word premieres of over sixty plays, including Sandinista!(1982), a collective creation based on the Nicaraguan revolution. In 1994-95, it produced an entire season of new plays, and in the 1997-98 season it produced only plays by or about women.
Among playwrights whose works have been performed by the company are George F. Walker , David French , Joan MacLeod , Morris Panych , Linda Griffiths , Judith Thompson , Ann-Marie MacDonald , Michel Tremblay , Andrew Moodie , Vivienne Laxdal , Jean-Marc Dalpé and Wendy Lill and Arthur Milner (10 plays).
Paul Toogood Photography
The 2003-04 season included Unity 1918, Me, Dad & the 100 Boyfriends written and performed by Cathy Jones , Feelgood, The Invisibility of Eileen, Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor , Inexpressible Island, The Doll House, and Mambo Italiano.
In November, 2001, the company won the award for best production for Kilt - from the Capital Critics Circle.
The company's archives are at the LW Conolly Theatre Archives of the University of Guelph, Ontario.
website: www.gctc.ca
Last updated 2009-04-03
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The Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia web site was originally conceived and developed in 1996 by Gaetan Charlebois—theatre critic, playwright, and actor.
