Biographies
Rachel Peake
Artistic Director
Originally from Saskatchewan, Peake is a director and dramaturge of theatre and opera. From 2021 to 2023 she was the Associate Artistic Director of the Arts Club Theatre Company (Vancouver, British Columbia), Canada's largest urban theatre company. From 2017 to 2020 she was the Associate Artistic Director of the Citadel Theatre, where she led the Citadel's New Play Development initiatives. A testament to her artistic vision, in January 2023 she won the Ovation Award for Outstanding Direction for her work on Something Rotten!, produced by Theatre Under the Stars. Additional credits in musical theatre and opera include: The Betty Mitchell Award-nominated MacBeth (Calgary Opera), Sense and Sensibility (Arts Club), 9 to 5: The Musical (Citadel Theatre), and The Pearl Fishers (Vancouver Opera).
Rachel’s inspired and diverse work in direction and dramaturgy is celebrated among audiences and her peers in the arts community across the country. Selected highlights include: directing Hyperlink (Elbow Theatre), which was nominated for a Critic's Choice in Innovation; directing and dramaturging the world première opera, Stickboy (Vancouver Opera); directing the première of The Contest of the Winds (Caravan Farm Theatre); and helming SexyVoices, a community-based creation piece about love and sex in the disability community for Realwheels Theatre – a Canadian disability theatre company based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Being the Artistic Director of the Grand Theatre is a dream job,” describes Peake. “Two theatre spaces with such vibrant history and extensive recent renovations allow for the full breadth of programming I love – plays that spark joy, from the intimate to the spectacular. I am excited to bring my family to London, to settle in, explore, and get to know this amazing community. We are living in challenging times, and I look forward to facing those challenges with energy, vision, and in partnership with the incredible team at the Grand.”
Lyndee Hansen
Executive Director
Lyndee Hansen was appointed as the Grand Theatre’s Executive Director in July 2024.
Hansen’s tenure begins on July 29, 2024, as she assumes responsibilities from outgoing Executive Director, Evan Klassen, who is returning to his hometown of Winnipeg to take on the same role at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. “Lyndee is a hero of Canadian theatre, and well-deserving of this new chapter in her illustrious career,” says Klassen. “I am thrilled to be passing the baton to someone whose kindness, level-headedness, and rigour, have contributed so greatly to my own tenure at the Grand. I wish Lyndee the absolute best as she takes her first steps as the next steward of the Grand Theatre.”
Lyndee Hansen is an arts leader and mentor who has worked as a general manager, producer and arts administrator for the last 25 years. For the last nine years, she has worked first as the Production Manager and subsequently Producer of the Grand Theatre in London, Ontario. Prior to this tenure, she worked in three different provinces and held senior leadership roles at Crow’s Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, and Geordie Theatre. Lyndee holds a degree in Theatre Production from Toronto Metropolitan University and is a recipient of the Mallory Gilbert Leadership Award, and Victor C. Polley Award.
“Before I became Artistic Director of the Grand Theatre, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Lyndee Hansen on a co-production," says Rachel Peake, Artistic Director. “Lyndee’s strengths as an arts leader are part of what initially drew me to the Grand Theatre and working with her is one of the many reasons that I’m so happy to serve this institution today. Lyndee is sought out by colleagues nation-wide for advice, perspective, and wisdom. She exemplifies an attitude of immense productivity, detailed output, and extreme care toward established and emerging talents within our sector. I look to our partnership, as co-leaders of this Theatre, fueled by excitement and inspired by the possibilities that her track record presents.”
