Shadow Theatre Announces Changes to the Company

Shadow Theatre has announced two big changes to the Company. The retirement of their long-time General Manager and the appointment of the first Artistic Director Fellowship Candidate.

Shadow Theatre's long time General Manager and Artistic Associate, Coralie Cairns, is retiring & moving into the next stage of her life. The Company wishes her well as she starts this new adventure. Coralie will still be connected to the company as bookkeeper and a regular stage performer.

"Coralie has been instrumental to the success and growth of the company over her 25 years of involvement," says Artistic Director John Hudson. "With her excellent financial guidance, she leaves the company in a strong financial position, even with the turbulence of the pandemic." Coralie has been a mainstay on Shadow Theatre stages in such productions as The Roommate, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and Sexy Laundry. She will return be in the Spring 2022 production of Bloomsday. Her last day in her current position will be December 31st, 2021.

The Shadow Theatre board of directors will begin searching for her replacement this summer. Shadow Theatre announced in mid-2020 the launch of three one-year fellowships for aspiring artistic directors from Edmonton who identify as women or another marginalized gender community. The placement will cover all aspects of an artistic director's management/artistic responsibilities in a mid-sized, subscription-based theatre company. The Fellowship addresses the leadership imbalance in Canadian theatres and our desire to be constructive partners in addressing gender inequity in our field. "The theatre sector is undergoing a shift, making space for under-represented communities", says Hudson. Shadow wants to contribute to the development of our future leaders. This project was first brought to us by Lana Hughes, Managing Director at Catalyst Theatre, as she saw there was a need. We agreed with her assessment and committed to trying to do something about that"

The company is thrilled to announce their first candidate, starting in September, will be Alexandra Dawkins. Alex (she/her) is an actor, devised-theatre creator, musician, writer, producer, and artistic director based in a??a'?a??a'?a'?a??a??a'?a??a??a'?a?? (Amiskwacîwâskahikan)/Edmonton, AB in Treaty 6 Territory.

Alexandra is a graduate of the University of Alberta's BFA Acting program (2017), an alumni of the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance (2017), and participated as an ensemble member in the 2016 One Yellow Rabbit Summer Performance Lab. Since 2015 she has been co-Artistic Director of the independent collective creation theatre company Innocent Operations, alongside Jake Tkaczyk. Together they have written, produced, directed, and performed various live shows for the Edmonton Play the Fool Festival, and the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. Alexandra is a collaborative artist who enjoys working with diverse individuals in the interest of generating new, challenging, and multidisciplinary Canadian work.

"Shadow Theatre is thrilled to have Alexandra as our first candidate", says Hudson. "She will be learning and working along with me and will be assistant directing on all of our 2022 productions and directing her own show in our 2022/23 season. Welcome aboard Alex."

"I am absolutely thrilled to be joining Shadow Theatre's creative team this upcoming season," says Dawkins. "I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to develop both new and existing skills as an Edmonton theatre artist." Performing breathtaking theatre in the heart of Old Strathcona, Shadow Theatre is happy to return home to the Varscona Stage. Subscriptions now available on our website. With three options for subscription, 2-for-1 Tuesdays, and flexible pricing through a Pay-What-You-Can ticket on the first Saturday matinee of each show run, Shadow Theatre is looking forward to celebrating life, theatre, friendship, and community with you all in 2022. A Portion of each ticket supports the Varscona Facility Enhancement Fund.