The Vancouver Playhouse announced Thursday (August 23) that its general manager, Jon Stettner, is stepping down immediately and that the company is planning to merge the general-manager and artistic-director positions into a single role.

This, the company’s board said in a media release, is the result of “a detailed strategic planning process and review of the last 20 years of the organization’s operations”.

The announcement also contained the news that the Playhouse’s artistic director since 1997, Glynis Leyshon, plans to leave her position after the 2007–08 season.

Stettner, who was hired on by the company in June of last year, has resigned “in order to return to the United States and be closer to family”, the release said. He has worked in Canada since the late 1970s—including an extended stint with the management of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet—and moved to Vancouver in 1991 to oversee the Playwrights Centre and the Arts Club Theatre Company.

These moves come during the Vancouver Playhouse’s ambitious, multiyear redevelopment process, which has its West 1^st Avenue headquarters being remodelled to house expanded production shops and a new 350-seat theatre.