Franco Boni Appointed Artistic And Executive Director Of PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

Today, The Theatre Centre's Board of Directors announced the resignation of Artistic Director Franco Boni who will be leaving to assume the role of Artistic and Executive Director at PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver commencing June 1, 2019.

Franco joined The Theatre Centre as Artistic Director in 2003. Over the last 16 years, Franco's vision, generosity, leadership, and commitment to the arts and community building has had a profound impact on the organization.

"Franco's departure marks the end of a remarkable era for The Theatre Centre. The company is well-placed to take advantage of his legacy of growth and success. In that same spirit of generosity that the company extends to artists and to the wider community, we extend to Franco our support in this next phase of his career." - Lindy Cowan, Board Chair.

Franco's work at The Theatre Centre is notable for his focus on the development of new work and the long-term incubation of many different voices and projects. Residency has been at the heart of The Theatre Centre's work and through Franco's commitment to providing time and space to those working at the edge of their practice has resulted in a vast array of work being developed and produced.

"I will be forever grateful to the many artists, staff, board members, donors and neighbours of West Queen West who have travelled with me on this journey at The Theatre Centre. As I reflect on the past 16 years, I'm especially proud to see how it has become a place that values process, invention, debate, imagination, generosity and above all else questions, not answers. It has become a home for people from all disciplines to try new ways of working." - Franco Boni

Franco was instrumental in spearheading a $6M Capital Campaign to secure a permanent home for The Theatre Centre at 1115 Queen Street West. The campaign closed with a generous gift of $500,000 from the Hon. Margaret Norrie McCain and saw the Mainspace theatre renamed The Franco Boni Theatre. That McCain chose to dedicate the space to the visionary who made all of this possible is unique in the community and is an acknowledgement of Franco's extraordinary leadership over the last 16 years.

During his time at The Theatre Centre, Franco was instrumental in developing a number of unique relationships and partnerships between many organizations locally, nationally and around the world. Partnerships with Luminato, Ontario Presents, Harbourfront Centre, SummerWorks, TPW, PuSh, High Performance Rodeo, and Sydney Festival have all resulted in fruitful collaborations.

The Board of Directors and staff at The Theatre Centre and the many artists, creators, and community members who have worked with Franco over the years, wish him all the best in this new endeavour.

The Theatre Centre will continue its commitment as a live arts hub and incubator as well as growing its role in the Queen West community. The Board has begun a process in its search for a new leader and more details will be announced soon.

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