Richmond has grown and evolved over the past 30 years and Gateway Theatre is proud to be a part of that.
Looking back on the past 15 years is as exciting as looking forward to the next 15.
Many Richmond residents hold cherished memories of the Gateway. For some, it is seeing their children on stage in school recitals or their neighbours expressing their artistic sides in a choir or orchestra.
Others have enjoyed coming to the Gateway by subscribing to our professional theatre series.
Gateway Theatre has blossomed into a cultural hub, for Richmond, Vancouver and surrounding areas. During the past 15 years the Gateway Academy for the Performing Arts has become stronger and more established than ever before, celebrating 23 years the Academy promises a fun and exciting learning environment for all students of all different ages. As well as the theatres in-house Academy, we play host to many other local community groups’ annual performances.
Over the past 15 years Gateway has seen community producers such as the Richmond Academy of Dance, RichCity Idol, Vancouver Academy of Dance, Elana Steele’s Voice Studio, The Arts Connection, and many more local organisations grace the stage, and will hopefully continue to do so for the next 15 years.
Planning for the future of Gateway Theatre includes celebrating diversity, our youth, creativity, culture and commitment to community.
Located within the innovative and culturally diverse city of Richmond, we are proud to be embracing and celebrating this within the next 15 years.
August 2014 saw the launch of the first ever Gateway Pacific Theatre Festival, a new and innovative, contemporary Chinese-language drama festival accessible for everyone, which brought three electrifying productions from Hong Kong: Detention, The Isle and The Fire of Desire.
After the huge success this past summer and the excitement for next year’s festival, the Gateway Pacific Theatre Festival will eventually grow into its own series, being produced parallel to the Gateway Signature Series.
As well as creating the Gateway Pacific Series, we aim to make the joys of theatre available to the children of Richmond too, creating Gateway Junior Series.
The professional theatre series will be specifically tailored to young audiences aged 4-18 years, where they will be able to enjoy shows with the same high caliber of artistry that their parents see in the Gateway Signature Series.
Finally, Gateway Greenhouse Series will be introduced within the next 15 years. The series will push boundaries of theatrical form and content by showcasing theatrical innovation, working as a research and development department and series for the venue, a place that fosters creativity and encourages risk-taking.
This series aims to be a place that nourishes the next generation of theatre artists and spectators.
Gateway Theatre will continue our commitment to providing a first-class venue for Richmond, as we evolve.
The programming might grow, but the mission for keeping the Gateway Theatre accessible to the community will not.
