By Galen Simmons

Here For Now Theatre has entered a new phase of its growth with the appointment of Crystal Spicer as the company’s first-ever executive director, reflecting both the organization’s rapid expansion and setting the stage for its long-term sustainability in Stratford’s independent theatre scene.

For Spicer, the role represents a return to her theatrical roots.

“My background is in theatre,” she said. “Before going out to Calgary, I was at the National Arts Centre as the technical director for English Theatre for eight years. It’s really where I would say my passion lives. … My heart’s always been in theatre, so it’s kind of a return to that.”

Spicer said she was drawn not only to the discipline itself, but to Here For Now Theatre’s vision and trajectory since it was first founded as an outdoor-theatre alternative at the onset of the pandemic.

“When I first came back to Stratford just over two years ago, they were out in the tent at the museum,” she said. “Then they got this beautiful building and all these amazing things have happened. … Here For Now is just going to keep on growing, and I just want to be part of it.”

Founder and artistic director Fiona Mongillo said the decision to create an executive director role came after a year of unprecedented growth that pushed the company beyond what could be sustained by a small leadership team.

“Last year just kind of exploded in growth,” Mongillo said. “We doubled our capacity, we added a winter season, we have a new building and we can’t keep up with demand in a lot of ways.”

She said the company’s summer season sold at 92 per cent capacity, while its first-ever winter season sold at 85 per cent – a level of success that also revealed the limits of trying to manage everything internally.

“I got to a point this summer where for years I felt like I could have every bank transaction in my brain, I could read every play, I could respond to every donor personally – I just had to work every waking moment of my life,” Mongillo said, also crediting fellow actor Siobhan O’Malley for stepping in to help run the theatre company in its early years before turning her focus to Here For Now’s marketing and communications.

“But then last year, it just got too big for that to be the reality of how things run.”

With Spicer stepping into the executive director role, Mongillo said she can now focus fully on the artistic side of the company.

“It enables me to put my focus solely on the artistic side of the company,” she said. “I’m working dramaturgically on things that are years out now for the company. There was a certain point where I went, ‘I’m doing everything badly,’ because I didn’t have enough time to do anything thoroughly.”

Spicer said her role will initially focus on establishing strong administrative foundations – from finances and contracts to staff supervision and technical operations – before expanding into national partnerships and profile-building.

“Once those things become routine, there’s going to be space for conversations and growing the Here For Now portfolio and profile throughout the country and representing Here For Now in our own local community as well, which is really important,” she said.

Mongillo said the partnership works because of complementary skill sets.

“I am not somebody who has a huge amount of technical background or expertise,” she said. “So, it’s like we have a perfect blending of skill sets to really run this company well.”

As Spicer prepares for her first summer season with Here For Now, she said her focus is on integration and support.

“You’re jumping into a puzzle and you’re going to figure out what your part is and how it fits,” she said. “We have a great staff, great volunteers and great supporters, and it’s great just being here to support everybody as I enter my first summer with Here For Now.”