Sarah Garton Stanley - Teaching-artist, Acting program

Sarah Garton Stanley (SGS) is a director, dramaturg and cultural leader.

She is currently directing and co-creating Mandelbaum: The Burning Bush Rides Again with Tracey Erin Smith, premiering in Spring 2027. Recent work includes How to Talk, made with Dylan Robinson for the 2026 Hold On and Let Go festival in Vancouver, and the co-facilitation of The Recombining, a transformational summit with performing and visual arts leadership in the Yukon. Ongoing dramaturgical work with Artistic Fraud on various projects and with Sarena Parmar on her most recent play.

She is the former Vice President of Programming at Arts Commons (Werklund Centre) in Calgary, and before that Artistic Producer of the National Creation Fund at the National Arts Centre. During her time as Associate Artistic Director of English Theatre at the NAC she created The Collaborations and The Cycle and directed The December Man and Kill Me Now. She was the first female Artistic Director at Buddies in Bad Times and the inaugural Artistic Associate of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, and is a co-founder of SWS, FOLDA and The Baby Grand Theatre.

SGS co-authored Manifesto for Now and Create Canada and is writing a new book, Trust Funds, with Owais Lightwala, out in 2028 with Routledge Press. She sits on the board of the Canadian Theatre Museum and on the National Advisory for the National Creation Fund. She is CEO and co-steward of the historic Birchdale and holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from Queen’s University.