Arts Notes

Bard on the Beach announces new managing director

by Craig Takeuchi on October 17th, 2013 at 10:16 AM
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      Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival announced on October 15 that the organization has appointed Claire Sakaki as its new managing director.

      Sakaki will replace interim managing director John McCulloch as of December 30.

      She will share leadership of the festival with artistic director Christopher Gaze. Her responsibilities will include administration, production, operations, strategic planning, and financial management.

      In a news release, Gaze stated: "I am thrilled that Claire will join our company. She has been a vital component in Soulpepper's meteoric rise and cultural impact, and her unique experience will be of tremendous benefit to us as we shape and develop Bard for the years to come. At the same time, I am deeply grateful to Bard Board Chair, Dr. Jim Bovard and past Chair and current Interim Managing Director, John McCulloch, for their efforts this past year to ensure Bard has thrived while we concluded this transition.”

      The Kamloops-born Sakaki is currently a producer and director of education at Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company.

      She has previously worked with Toronto Dance Theatre, the Weston Playhouse (Vermont), the Canadian Opera Company, and Theatrefront.  

      Bard on the Beach will celebrate its 25th season, which will run from June 11 to September 20, 2014.

      You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at twitter.com/cinecraig. 

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      Craig Takeuchi

      @Cinecraig

      The urban beastie otherwise known as Craig Takeuchi is a UBC BA (art history/film studies) and MFA (Creative Writing program, with a screenplay thesis) graduate who has had his fiction and non-fiction work published in numerous local and national publications. He's covered a wide range of topics...

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      Comments

      3 Comments

      Hazlit

      Oct 18, 2013 at 7:54am

      Soulpepper has turned increasingly populist in recent years and the quality of its productions has correspondingly declined. Does this mean that BOB is aiming at the same strategy?

      Walker

      Oct 18, 2013 at 12:29pm

      @Hazlit: the idea that Bard on the Beach could become even more populist is kind of staggering. If anything it's tried to become more edgy over the last few seasons.

      Hazlit

      Oct 18, 2013 at 1:56pm

      @Walker,

      Did you see this years production of MfM? MfM is a "dark comedy" NOT a ha-ha comedy. It ends in a marriage--thus "comedy." Yet BOB played it as if was full of a bunch of fart jokes.

      This "edgy" production of MfM was given lots of farting because that's ha-ha funny and our philistine audiences in Vancouver like ha-ha funny. It sells tickets but ruins a complex and exciting play.

      I worry that for BOB "edgy" and populist have become the same thing.