Keltie Forsyth to join Presentation House Theatre as artistic director
The artist is leaving PuSh International Performing Arts Festival after the 2025 event; Margo Kane also departs PuSh
Keltie Forsyth. Photo by Ryan Parker
LEADERSHIP CHANGES ARE afoot in the Vancouver arts community.
At the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, director of operations Keltie Forsyth will be departing in early 2025 following the 20th-annual event, which runs from January 23 to February 9. Forsyth has accepted a new position as artistic director of Presentation House Theatre (PHT).
PHT is preparing to bid farewell to artistic director Kim Selody, who is retiring after 13 years with the organization.
Having joined PuSh in mid-2022, Forsyth is also one of the co-artistic directors of Ensemble Theatre Company. Forsyth holds a master of fine arts from the University of British Columbia and a bachelor of arts from the University of Alberta’s department of drama. She began her career in Edmonton as general manager of Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre and co-curator of its Canoe Theatre Festival. Forsyth has worked as an arts manager, freelance director, instructor, grant writer, and associate artistic director of Pi Theatre. She has served in a number of teaching roles at UBC, including as the director of the 2018 production She Kills Monsters.
Back at PuSh, the board has announced that Margo Kane has stepped down from her role as director of Indigenous initiatives effective this past summer to focus on her work at Full Circle: First Nations Performance and with Indigenous-led organizations and artists. Kane joined the PuSh team in 2021 during what was a challenging time for the organization, according to a release. Her leadership and perspective were crucial in ensuring that PuSh moved forward in a way that responded to the needs of the community.
Full PuSh programming details will be announced on November 20. ![]()
Gail Johnson is cofounder of Stir. She is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.
Related Articles
At The Cultch’s York Theatre, wonderfully weird characterizations meet gravity-defying feats in a raucously unpretentious banger that has “hit” written all over it
Whether you’re looking for a quick drink and snack, conversation, reflection, or people-watching, these airy meeting places hit their marks
Playwright Kate Besworth and director Ming Hudson team up for a contemporary adaptation of the classical Sophocles tragedy
Cheeky, DIY theatre event aimed to throw light on the stage scene’s unsung heroes—and ended up selling out
The veteran theatre artist grappled with big questions of good and evil, and took inspiration from genre films, for his visually stylized new adaptation
Elevated visual design and a strong, multitasking cast bring ample Newfoundland warmth to new Arts Club Theatre Company and Citadel Theatre coproduction
Ashley Wright has helmed it himself, but in Bard on the Beach’s new production, he plays Shakespeare’s dissolute knight under the capable direction of Rebecca Northan
London’s Three Legged Race Productions folds in influences from contemporary circus to cabaret in a raucously funny show that celebrates a ’90s-style birthday at The York Theatre
Boca del Lupo and ArtstageSAN’s show at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival is more of an immersive experience than a plot-driven play
Megan Milton’s Free Kittens and William Rubel’s Robin Redbreast in a Cage converge on close human relationships in an age of reality TV and AI
The Arts Club teams up with Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre for new local production of the international smash-hit musical
Two senior artists play young Newfoundland couple in Western Gold Theatre’s gentle staging
Stephen Drover directs his own haunting adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy, laced with tyranny and moral corruption
Boca del Lupo returns to the outdoor stage in partnership with Korean puppet masters for five-metre-tall spectacle
Event’s top works from across the country and the globe leap between juggling, circus, art installation, concert, and more
Laugh-out-loud, music-filled production sets Shakespeare’s play in a fictional soccer-obsessed Vancouver suburb
The Vancouver director says there’s something “extraordinarily intimate” about Nobel Prize laureate Peter Handke’s 1966 “anti-play”
Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life documents the creator’s retirement, cancer diagnosis, and pursuit of a long-deferred passion for music
Sharply funny shows by standup comics Scarlet Chen and Megan Milton get theatrical about themes of immigration and mother-daughter relationships
Veteran actors Craig March and Dolores Drake play the young lovers in David French’s play, set in a Newfoundland outport 100 years ago
Arnaud Hoedt and Jérôme Piron look at linguistic absurdity and educational inequity in their hit shows La Convivialité and Kevin
Musical numbers consistently land with energy and flair in a production that boasts strong performances and choreography
Vancouver newcomer Celeste Nicholson heads a strong cast with enough verve to delight even those who are very familiar with the show.
CTORA Productions’ new version of the hit musical brings back nostalgic numbers like “Summer Nights”
Highlights include the premiere of a new musical by Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille, the annual East Van Panto, and the return of Ronnie Burkett’s Daisy Theatre
Theatre artist’s innovative one-man show mixes memoir and history lesson, with live music by Syrian-born musician Emad Armoush
Long-time company writer and director Valerie Methot talks about her rich creative collaboration with young people who are struggling with the fallout of addiction to phones
Brussels-based company also presents its beloved play La Convivialité, which addresses convention in French spelling
Professional Association of Canadian Theatres prize recognizes Vancouver company work that addressed 2021 heat wave, flooding, and fires
At the Firehall Arts Centre, Drew Hayden Taylor draws complex characters and sharp comedic artworld moments in a play that really kicks into gear in second act
