Granville Island Arts Orgs Announce New Theatre District

The following is partially excerpted from a release issued by JLS Entertainment on behalf of The Granville Island Theatre District.

The exterior of the Waterfront Theatre, part of the Granville Island Theatre District. | Image: Granville Island.

Boca del Lupo (BDL), Carousel Theatre for Young People and CMHC-Granville Island have announced a new vision for theatre and performance on Granville Island, The Granville Island Theatre District will steward performing arts programming at Performance Works, Festival House and the Waterfront Theatre, effective July 1, 2018. This vision will establish strong artistic identities for each of these three performance venues, creating a robust theatre district in the heart of the city.

Performance Works programming will focus on performance innovation, new forms and cultural multiplicity. The curatorial framework of Performance Works will encourage values of equity and diversity alongside artistic excellence. Performance Works will also house BDL’s successful artist residency program.

Festival House will be the home of Granville Island Theatre District administration, host Granville Island resident arts festivals, and act as an accelerator for the incubation of new and emergent work. It will focus on being a functional and vibrant home for festivals that produce on Granville Island and on programming at Studio 1398 that engages emerging artists, emergent forms and developing audiences while maximizing venue usage.

The Waterfront Theatre, through the vision of Carousel Theatre for Young People, will become Vancouver’s first venue dedicated specifically to live performance for families and young people. In addition to hosting CTYP’s professional mainstage season, the Waterfront Theatre will continue to be a pivotal performance venue for the Vancouver International Children’s Festival and will welcome a diverse range of theatre, dance and music companies whose focus is the creation of inspiring programming for families. 

Carole Higgins, founding member of the Granville Island Theatre District and artistic director of Carousel Theatre for Young People states: “This is a wonderful opportunity to cement Granville Island as a world class theatre destination. We are thrilled that CMHC-Granville has embraced our collaborative vision to create a diverse, vibrant theatre and performing arts hub here in the heart of the city, and we look forward to working with and welcoming artists, producers and audiences of all ages to our stages.”