Calgary's Theatre Calgary announces new artistic director, Stafford Arima

The biggest theatre company in Calgary announced a new artistic director Monday, luring Stafford Arima from New York City to put his mark on the city's scene.

Theatre Calgary has been without an artistic lead since Dennis Garnhumannounced his departure six months ago.

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Arima is from Canada, but has been working in New York for almost 20 years both on and off-Broadway..

"While we had not limited ourselves initially to finding a Canadian candidate, it quickly became apparent that we did not need to look beyond our borders to fill this role," said Theatre Calgary board chair Chadwick Newcombe.

Pushing boundaries

Arima is the 12th artistic director in the company's 49-year history.

He said he's looking forward to pushing theatrical boundaries during his tenure and bringingtheatre to people in Calgary who aren't engaged with the arts.

"I've always believed that theatre is borderless and I'm eager to expand and to foster new relationships with authors and theatre companies and artists throughout Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the United States and abroad," said Arima.

He said his mother was born in Saskatchewan and his father in British Columbia, "so I'm sort of sandwiched within this geographical juju of good energy," he said of moving to Calgary.

Arima officially takes the reins on April 3 after he's finished directing a play in San Diego.

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