Our History

Duval Lang and Meilie Ng in Nisei Blue Photo: Trudie Lee

Founded in 1972, Alberta Theatre Projects initially presented children's theatre, with a mandate to present new Canadian plays emphasizing prairie concerns and bring history alive for children. Through the years, ATP has broadened its audience, introducing plays from an international repertoire while remaining dedicated to Canadian playwriting.

For the first thirteen years, the Canmore Opera House at Heritage Park housed ATP productions. A very intimate space, the Canmore Opera House is a log cabin, which was donated to Heritage Park by Eric Harvie and seats 198 people. While the special atmosphere allowed plays to emerge from its tiny stage, the building presented some limitations, namely in the lack of under stage, wing space or fly space.

In 1985 ATP moved into the Calgary Centre for Performing Arts. ATP made its new home in the beautiful Martha Cohen Theatre. The Martha Cohen Theatre is one of the most unique theatres in North America using an intimate Georgian design to present productions on its stage.

In its thirty-seven years, Alberta Theatre Projects has produced over 220 plays (over 5,000 performances!) by renowned playwrights spanning the globe and is now one of the largest theatre companies in Canada. Every year, the Enbridge playRites Festival of New Canadian Plays produces new works, helping launch the careers of many of Canada's most prominent playwrights. Over its history, the Enbridge playRites Festival has become the largest new play festival in Canada and one of the seminal events on the national arts calendar.

For a complete list of all ATP productions please visit the Archived Play List.