2. Guest Speaker Anita Gaffney, Stratford Festival Shira introduced Anita. She is the Executive Director at the Stratford Festival. She is in her 28th year with the Festival. Anita was born and raised in Stratford. She had a few summer jobs throughout the years. She was a ‘cart girl’, she worked at the theatre store and at a restaurant on the terrace. Her dad had been on the board of the theatre, so she was very familiar and had a lot of respect for the Festival but never thought that’s where she would end up for work. She loved everything she did when she started at the Festival and feels she always has an opportunity to keep learning. She finished an Executive MBA in 2002. This helped give her an understanding of how business works outside of a not for profit organization. She was one of few students who came from a non profit background. She found it helpful to gain general business knowledge. She learned that most business principles do work at most businesses. She leads the business side of the Festival. She is a co-leader with Antoni Cimolino (Artistic Director). They consult with each other a great deal ie when making artistic decisions, determining which spaces will be used, which productions will be done, etc. One key decision had to do with what to do while the Tom Patterson Theatre is under construction. After exploring some temporary locations, they decided to make the most of the 3 spaces they have this year. She oversees Education & outreach and Archives at the Festival. They have the biggest collection of archived material dedicated to any one theatre. She also oversees HR, Marketing, Finance. Tom Patterson Theatre Project: The property is all cleared now. A crane is going up this week. The next steps will be excavation and pouring concrete. They hope to open it in the spring of 2020. Along with theatre, it will have education and outreach and new play development. Seating will be more accessible. It will seat 600 people. The old Tom Patterson seated 480. It will be capable of being in the round. It will have the same configuration of the original Tom Patterson Theatre stage. The auditorium is going to be beautiful. Lots of lobby space will be built in for people to sit and stand. There will also be spaces for pre and post show activities to happen. There will also be a dedicated space for the Forum activities. Right now, Forum scheduling is based on the theatre’s schedule (because the spaces are needed for shows). This new space will allow the timing to cater towards the patrons. New Play Development: There are 2 this year (Bronte and Paradise lost) and 20 in the pipeline. Antoni has commissioned some children’s plays; there is a musical written by Steven Paige that is in the pipeline, there is a dance interpretation of Frankenstein, etc. This space will allow the artists to work out the storytelling, make changes, consult others, test out tech elements, etc. There will also be a rehearsal hall and dressing rooms. June 11th of 2020 would have been Tom Patterson’s 100th birthday so they want to be sure to have it ready for then. They are now working on a Strategic Plan for the next 5 years. A new priority is young audiences, diversity and inclusivity They are now working on the 2019 season. It will be finalized in August. When asked about favourite moments, she cited The Music Man last week (standing ovation after 76 Trombones); William Hutt’s performance in The Tempest She is always so impressed by the props department Discussion of bridging the ‘business’ and ‘artistic’ sides of things. She commented that it is important to win the hearts and minds of all involved because then they are onside and working with you. Show your passion, show why it will make a difference, etc. | 
