Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
General material designation
- Multiple media
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Catalyst Theatre was incorporated in 1978, but began from Theatre for Social Action projects directed by David Barnet in the Drama Department of the University of Alberta. One such piece, entitled Drinks before Dinner (1977), caught the attention of the Alberta Alcoholism and Addiction Commission and the commission funded a provincial tour of the piece. Soon other social agencies began to make inquiries, and Catalyst Theatre was formed, with Barnet the acting part-time artistic coordinator. In 1979, Jan Selman, a M.F.A. grad from Alberta, was hired to be Catalyst's first full- time artistic director. Catalyst's stated objectives from the outset were to 'promote and practice the use of theatre for public education and as a catalyst for social action.' Topics explored under this mandate included alcoholism and drug abuse, juvenile crime, spouse abuse, poverty and teen suicide. Plays were performed in whatever space the sponsors or tour location had available. In 1985, Ruth Smillie replaced Jan Selman as artistic director. During Smillie's tenure Catalyst moved away from producing pieces for social agencies and began to pursue projects of its own choosing. In 1990, Catalyst, for the first time acquired its own performance space in the Edmonton neighbourhood of Garneau. The new performance space, though small, became known for its experiments in cabaret theatre. During Smillie's tenure, the theatre also developed the Takwakin project featuring the writing and direction of Floyd Favel. Favel's works All my Relations (1990) and Lady of Silences and Requiem (1992) featured all-Native casts and sought to develop new images of and for the contemporary native. Smillie resigned in early 1996 and was succeeded by the directing tandem of Joey Tremblay and Jonathan Cristenson. To cut costs, they moved Catalyst into a converted warehouse at 8523- 103 St., and revised the objective of Catalyst to focus on theatrical innovation instead of social change. The new commitment was to 'creating original Canadian work that explores new possibilities for the theatrical art form and the process through which it was created,' to 'exposing work nationally and internationally', and to 'challenging the artists and audiences who participate in the creation of that work.'
Custodial history
Scope and content
Fonds consists of records pertaining to Catalyst Theatre and their productions.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
RCRF Main
RCRF Cold Room
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Open
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
descriptive inventory available.
Associated materials
Accruals
General note
PDF scanned from paper finding aid.
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Heather, Jane (Subject)
Genre access points
Control area
Description record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules or conventions
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Scanned and uploaded fall 2017. Updated by M. Fraser on Oct 23, 2020.