Alberta Theatre survives Y2K

[Anne Nothof]

Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary has survived its financial crisis
and will proceed with playRites Y2K in January.  Artistic Director, Bob
White, indicates, however, that a cool million needs to be raised in
order to make next season viable.

Workshop West in Edmonton has a new Artistic Director -- playwright,
actor and director Ron Jenkins.  His high energy skills were evident in
the recent WW production of two Walker plays from _Suburban Motel_ --
"The End of Civilization" and "Problem Child."  In an interview with Liz
Nichols in the _Edmonton Journal_, Jenkins emphasizes that WW will be a
playwrights' theatre.  And he wants to do "environmental stuff" in
disconcertingly untheatrical venues. He wants "to take new voices to the
street, try new things, provide new cultural experiences.  I'm
completely up for new collaborations."  Jenkins' new one-man play -- "it
used to be called _Amnesia_ but no one could remember the name" -- is a
Theatre Network commission slated for production next season.

Conni Massing's _The Aberhart Summer_ opens at the Citadel in February,
under the direction of Bob Baker.

As Ron Jenkins suggests, "Edmonton is a City of Champion Storytellers."