Unpacking Big Sky Theatre: a pledge to Calgary's theatre future

If you want a bountiful garden, it all starts in the dirt, and Calgary’s newest theatre company Big Sky Theatre is hoping to add a bit of nitrogen to the city's performing arts soil.

Big Sky Theatre hopes to bring live theatrical performance back to Prince’s Island Park or comparable venues beginning next summer. Calgary has been without a similar program now for several years.  

Behind Big Sky Theatre are well-known mid-career Calgary professional theatre artists Emily Howard, Charlie Gould, Mike Tan and Braden Griffiths, who say the new company is an answer to what they see as several missing puzzle pieces in the Calgary theatre ecosystem. 

For the average Calgarian, the hope is the project will mean more accessible exposure to both classical and original theatre in the novel setting of a public space offered for free or at pay-what-you-can rates. 

For the arts community, the hope is to create opportunities for emerging artists locally, and hopefully retain them within Calgary to grow roots. In order to be a true stepping stone, Big Sky Theatre seeks to provide a professional opportunity with artists paid equally and equitably regardless of experience level. They admit their lofty goals are an easy pitch, but may be very hard to execute. 

Big sky Theatre Co- Artistic Producers: Braden Griffiths, Charlie Gould, Emily Howard and Mike Tan Source: Big Sky Theatre Instagram

Underneath it all is a sense of love and devotion to the area and land known as Mohkinstsis, Calgary, or sometimes colloquially as YYC.  Braden Griffiths says he hopes to create in this city for the foreseeable future, so when the idea for Big Sky Theatre came up- it was an obvious yes from him, “it was about sort of making the change that you want to see in the world and being excited about working with one another and being excited about being artists who are committed to Calgary. … I have no desire to move to Toronto. And I think among the four of us, we're artists who want to live and work and then eventually die in Calgary. And so ultimately, how do we create a sustainable future artist-wise and then theatre production-wise through something that we can provide at this point?” The answer they hope is a partial revival of a past favourite. 

Shakespeare in the Park, originally run by Mount Royal University, started in the late ‘80s, the outdoor summer program was a place of mentorship and community for emerging artists. In 2012 after funding cuts to post-secondary programs in Alberta Theatre Calgary took ownership of the program, renaming it Shakespeare by the Bow. It became Shakespeare on the Go during the pandemic bringing shows to communities around Calgary. The move was both an economical and a socially conscious decision in a time of social distancing. The program was put on hiatus in 2024 amid funding concerns and has not returned as company mandates shifted. Griffiths says the lack of a comparable program leaves a vital gap in Calgary’s theatre ecosystem: “there's no obvious pathway for emerging artists in our community in the same way that there was maybe available to us when we were emerging into the community. And some of those emerging pathways had to do with, specifically, Shakespeare in the Park or Shakespeare by the Bow.” 

That lack of opportunity, he says, is leading to so-called ‘‘talent flight,” as artists who fail to secure a role with the big companies in Calgary are forced to move on to gain experience: “if we don't have a pathway for our emerging artists, then there is no community for the future either… they leave.” Mike Tan says that loss has consequences for  diversity in  Calgary arts, “So many, so many racialized artists are leaving the city because of… just not enough work to sustain a career in this city.” 

Charlie Gould says another way Big Sky hopes to help create more work is through fresh local scripts “There's no company in town that's currently commissioning any new work… you know, there are playwrights that live here, There's a governor general’s award-winning playwright that lives in Calgary.” Gould says the company hopes to allow playwrights and directors space to explore ideas either through fresh scripts, or adaptations “It's all about giving ourselves time. And I'm hoping with these commissions and… having more of a forward-thinking planning model that we will afford ourselves and the artists more time to… be intentional with what they're doing.”

The company has already signed a contract for its first full commission with Calgary playwright Caleigh Crow, a governor general’s award-winning writer whose original show Hucksterland won Outstanding New Play at the Betty Mitchell Awards last year. While there is still much to be divined about the show slated for summer 2028, early brainstorming suggests it will explore the stories of King Arthur. A public presentation and workshop for the script is planned for August 2027. 

Commissioned pieces take time, and on the in-between Tan says Big Sky is open to produce whatever would play well in an outdoor public space, be it a classic Greek play, a Shakespeare script, an older local piece, a musical, “it boils back down to like the essence of storytelling, of like having some people telling the story and then some people listening and having this kind of, that's it. And then you just have this space between that we try to dissolve and try to immerse audience into, that we try to engage people who might not be there for that, but stop and listen because there is something being offered that speaks to the greater notion of existing."

Source: Big Sky Theatre Instagram

Of vital importance to the founding four is that the opportunity be a paid one, which Griffiths admits will be a challenge. Not only does Big Sky hope to pay all the artists involved, they also plan to eliminate the pay gap based on experience,“ Core to our mandate is that everybody is paid. And to some degree, everybody is paid the same rate within the room…. And that rate is professional. And actually the goal is to be above professional, like above the Equity minimum, because that doesn't actually necessarily represent a living wage.” That means new grads and professional mentors will be working for the same amount. 

Mentorship is another key piece the group hopes to reintroduce to the Calgary performing arts community. They point to past experiences working with theatrical leaders like ATP’s Haysam Kadri, Stephen Hair, and support from Chris Hunt as instrumental to their own growth and the launch of Big Sky. Tan says levelling out the power dynamic and working alongside more senior artists gave him permission to learn and grow "it was such a delight to have these artists be like the pros at something like Shakespeare in the Park, for example, share their knowledge, but then also just be people”

Griffiths says programs that provide early career opportunities and mentorship give emerging artists the right opportunity to grow: “Careers are long or can be long if given the opportunity, If you're in fertile soil… it's made up of a hundred different credits over however many years or whatever it is. But those are meted out over time. But only if the soil is strong enough to sustain those new humans who are trying to grow up in that community. And the soil has felt fairly fallow for the last little while.”

Tan sums up the mission succinctly, “we're really ready to soil ourselves.”

The next part of the Big Sky Theatre quest is the continued efforts to take the idea from paper to stage. There is much enthusiasm for the project on social media and an event planned to celebrate the launch of the company Aug. 26th at Highline Tap Room featuring live music. 

It is a free event, but you can reserve a spot here.

If you want to learn more and follow along- check out the Big Sky Theatre website and Instagram.

This interview largely reminded me of this cartoon by Spanish cartoonist José María Nieto

“I don’t see any reason to be optimistic. What will 2017 bring us?”

“I think it will bring flowers.”

“Really? Why?”

“I’m planting flowers.”