THE HISTORY OF THE CITADEL THEATRE
HISTORIC TIMELINE
1965
Joseph H. Shoctor, James L. Martin, Ralph B. MacMillan, and Sandy Mactaggart purchase the old Salvation Army building – known as the Citadel – on 102nd Street for $100,000, with the intention of opening a live theatre venue. Joe Shoctor expresses his intention to make the Citadel “the theatre centre of this country.”
NOV. 10, 1965
The Citadel Theatre’s first opening night is held, featuring Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. There are 277 people in attendance, the maximum number of seats in the house. By the end of the theatre’s first year, 1,300 people were subscribers.
1966
Founding of the Citadel Theatre School, later re-named the Foote Theatre School.
1968
The Citadel launches the Citadel on Wheels and Wings. The theatre program tours thousands of miles to schools and communities as far north as the Arctic Circle. The program continues until 1985.
1973
A star of British theatre who immigrated to Canada in 1972, Sir John Neville, is appointed artistic director of the Citadel. His appointment firmly establishes the Citadel as a force on the national scene.
1974
Construction begins on a new theatre complex located on 99th Street on the south side of 102nd Avenue.
NOV. 1975
Artistic director Sir John Neville and world-famous actress Dame Peggy Ashcroft star in Dear Liar.
1975
Neville launches the Citadel Too series – avant-garde pieces aimed at a younger and more adventurous audience.
NOV. 1976
Phase One of the new Citadel Theatre, in the heart of Edmonton’s arts district, opens. The first play to be performed in the new complex is Romeo and Juliet, with Brent Carver starring as Romeo. Tom Wood performs as Mercutio.
1977-78
John Neville and Dame Peggy Ashcroft team up again in a production of Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days.
1978
The Citadel appoints Tony Award-winning director Peter Coe from Britain as artistic director, triggering controversy among Canadian nationalists and others. Coe’s era saw the Citadel seek a more international identity as an exporting theatre, with an eye to producing shows that could move to New York or London. Several shows did make the move, and one, A Life, from the 1980-81 season, received four Tony nominations for its Broadway run.
1978-79
The Citadel celebrates its 15th anniversary with an open house for all of Edmonton, including a command performance for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during the Commonwealth Games. Acclaimed British actress Glynis Johns stars with a young David Ferry in Terrance Rattigan’s Cause Celebre. Also that season, Oscar-winning actor Ron Moody appears in a Nazi-era setting of Richard III.
1979-80
Internationally renowned actor of stage and screen, Roy Dotrice, plays the lead in the Citadel world premiere of Mister Lincoln by Herbert Mitgang. Directed by Peter Coe, the play goes on to open on Broadway in spring 1980.
1982
The Citadel launches the International Children’s Festival and runs the Festival annually until 1994. The Festival, now located in St. Albert, continues to this day.
1984
Phase Two of the Citadel Theatre complex opens, featuring the Maclab Theatre. When the new complex is completed in 1989, it is the largest in Canada with five theatres, an atrium and a nine-metre tall waterfall.
1984
Gordon McDougall is appointed artistic director and opens the new Maclab Theatre in December with a hugely popular production of Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie. McDougall also directs edgy contemporary works in the Rice Theatre Series.
1984
Actor/director Len Cariou directs American actor James Whitmore in a memorable production of Death of A Salesman. Cariou will serve as an associate director at the Citadel in 1986.
1988
The Citadel launches the Teen Festival of the Arts. The festival runs until 1994.
SEP. 1989
The Citadel opens its 25th season with Robin Phillips’ production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One national magazine calls it “a cultural milestone, not just for Edmonton but, indeed, the entire nation.” Phillips directs two other plays this season: The Crucible and The Philadelphia Story.
1990
Robin Phillips is appointed director-general of the Citadel Theatre.
1995
Duncan McIntosh is named artistic director. He is the first Canadian-born and -trained director at the Citadel. The Citadel receives a $5-million pledge to its trust fund from Edmonton’s philanthropic Hole family. This is one of the largest single private donations ever made to a Canadian theatre.
1996
The Citadel becomes the first regional theatre to produce a work in association with the Stratford Festival, the Feydeau farce A Fitting Confusion. American/Canadian actress Martha Henry plays “A” in Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women. Also appearing in this production are Fiona Reid and Jennifer Wigmore.
1997
World Premiere of Raymond Storey’s South of China, the first new Canadian work to appear on the Citadel mainstage since 1980.
1998
Bob Baker is named Artistic Director. He is the Citadel’s first Edmonton-born and trained artistic director. His term, which lasted for 17 years, is the longest in Citadel history.
NOV. 2000
World premiere performance of Tom Wood’s adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol which runs for 19 seasons at the Citadel.
2001
On April 19, lawyer, community builder, philanthropist, theatre impresario, and founder of the Citadel Theatre, Joe Shoctor, passes away at the age of 78.
2003
Playwright Vern Thiessen’s new work, Einstein’s Gift, premieres at the Citadel, going on to win the Governor-General’s Award for Drama.
MAR. 2010
Artistic director Bob Baker announces the formation of the Robbins Academy, a creative development institution that features four programming streams: The Foote Theatre School (theatre arts training aimed at the general public from youngsters to adults); the Play Development program (mentoring selected playwrights in the development of new work); the Young Companies (advanced training and mentorship program for aspiring artists between the ages of 16-21) and the Citadel/Banff Centre Professional Theatre Program (advanced creative development program to enrich the performance skills of established theatre professionals).
SEP. 2012
The renowned comedy improv troupe, Rapid Fire Theatre, moves into the Citadel’s Zeidler Theatre as a resident company.
AUG. 2015
Internationally-acclaimed theatre company Catalyst Theatre moves into the Citadel’s Maclab Theatre as a resident company.
SEPT. 2016
Daryl Cloran becomes the new Artistic Director of the Citadel Theatre.
FEB. 2017
Artistic Director Daryl Cloran announces the appointment of prominent Edmonton arts activist Christine Sokaymoh Frederick as the theatre’s first Indigenous Associate Artist.
NOV. 2017
The Citadel presents the Pre-Broadway Canadian Premiere of Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell. Hadestown goes on to Broadway, winning eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
NOV. 2019
The Citadel presents the Pre-Broadway Canadian Premiere of SIX: The Musical. SIX goes on to Broadway, winning the Tony Award for Best Original Score.
DEC. 2019
In celebration of the Citadel’s 20th anniversary of A Christmas Carol, the Citadel commissions and produces a new adaptation written by Edmonton playwright David van Belle. This new production, directed by Artistic Director Daryl Cloran, is set in the 1940s and features a live band and Christmas songs from the period.
MAR. 2020
Citadel Theatre closes on March 13, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
AUG. 2020
Citadel Theatre safely welcomes back audiences to the building with Horizon Lab: Where Are Your Stories.
FEB. 2022
The Citadel presents the Pre-Broadway Canadian Premiere of Peter Pan Goes Wrong. Peter Pan Goes Wrong goes on to Broadway, running alongside Hadestown and SIX, meaning three productions the Citadel participated in the development of are running on Broadway at the same time.
PREMIERES OF NEW CANADIAN WORK AT THE CITADEL SINCE 2000
Bob Baker, Artistic Director
2000 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted by Tom Wood
2002 Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, adapted by Tom Wood
2003 Einstein’s Gift by Vern Thiessen
2003 The Sword In the Stone by Marty Chan (Kidsplay @ The Citadel Series)
2004 Vanya story by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Tom Wood
2005 Shakespeare’s Will by Vern Thiessen (Co-production with the Freewill Players)
2005 A Giraffe In Paris by Mark Haroun (Kidsplay @ The Citadel Series)
2006 Peter Pan by Tom Wood, adapted from the novel by J.M. Barrie
2007 Birdbrain by Vern Thiessen, based on the story Vogelkopf by Albert Wendt (Kidsplay @ The Citadel Series)
2007 Penelope VS. The Aliens by Chris Bullough and Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull (Kidsplay @ The Citadel Series)
2007 Vimy by Vern Thiessen
2008 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, adapted by Tom Wood
2008 The Forbidden Phoenix Book and Lyrics by Marty Chan, Lyrics and Music by Robert
Walsh
2009 Extinction Song by Ron Jenkins
2009 Billy Twinkle by Ronnie Burkett
2010 The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas, adapted by Tom Wood
2011 Penny Plain by Ronnie Burkett
2014 Make Mine Love by Tom Wood
2015 Evangeline (redevelopment) by Ted Dykstra and Robert Foster
2017 Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, adapted by Tom Wood
Daryl Cloran, Artistic Director
2018 The Silver Arrow: The Untold Story of Robin Hood by Mieko Ouchi
2018 Hadestown (redevelopment) by Anais Mitchell
2019 The Candidate and The Party by Kat Sandler
2019 A Christmas Carol by David van Belle
2020 Mary’s Wedding by Stephen Massicote, adapted by Tai Amy Grauman
2021 The Garneau Block by Belinda Cornish, based on the novel by Todd Babiak
2021 The Fiancée by Holly Lewis
2022 Jane Eyre by Erin Shields
2022 The Herd by Kenneth Williams
2022 Almost a Full Moon by Hawksley Workman and Charlotte Corbeil-Coleman
2023 Prison Dancer by Romeo Candido and Carmen DeJesus
PAST ARTISTIC DIRECTORS
John Hulbert (1965-1966)
Robert Glenn (1966-1968)
Sean Mulcahy (1968-1973)
John Neville (1973-1978)
Peter Coe (1978-1981)
Joseph H. Shoctor (1981-1984, as Producer)
Gordon McDougall (1984-1987)
William Fisher (1987-1989)
Richard Dennison (1989-1990, as Producer)
Robin Phillips (1990-1995, as Director General)
Duncan McIntosh (1995-1999)
Bob Baker (1999–2016)
Daryl Cloran (2016 – present)