Winnipeg's Prairie Theatre Exchange names stage after beloved GM to celebrate 50th anniversary

As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, Prairie Theatre Exchange has announced it is renaming its mainstage in honour of a much-loved and long-serving general manager of the downtown Winnipeg theatre.

The primary stage at the theatre, located in Portage Place mall, will now be known at the Cherry Karpyshin Mainstage Theatre — or the Cherry for short — in honour of Cherry Karpyshin, who served as PTE's general manager from 1992 until her retirement in 2015.

The official naming for the stage — which previously didn't have a formal name — was announced at a Thursday evening event.

"I'm excited for moments where we go, 'Where's that show?' And we say … 'It's in the Cherry!'" said Lisa Li, PTE's managing director.

"It just rolls off the tongue so well, and it's such a bright name for a theatre space."

Prairie Theatre Exchange began in 1972 as the Manitoba Theatre Workshop, following the closure of the Manitoba Theatre School, according to the theatre's website. The smaller stage in PTE's current space, the Colin Jackson Theatre, has long been named after its co-founder and first artistic director (Jackson started the theatre with Charles Huband).

Prairie Theatre Exchange moved into its current location on the third floor of Portage Place in 1989, but its 323-seat mainstage had been nameless until now.

Karpyshin started at PTE in 1981, when the company was still operating out of the old Grain Exchange Building on Princess Street, in Winnipeg's Exchange District. After 11 years working in administration, she was promoted to general manager.

For the next 23 years, Karpyshin helped the company grow from a small theatre school to an internationally recognized theatre company.

Despite her successful career, the new name of the theatre's mainstage to her came as a surprise.

"Here I was, [former] general manager.… I had retired after what I considered an absolutely wonderful career," Karpyshin told CBC. "And here the company that I love dearly was naming their main theatre after me.

"I'm at a loss for words in many ways."

Li said that until Karpyshin's name was proposed, there never seemed to be the right fit for the stage. But with the company's 50th anniversary, combined with a return to in-person performances after two years of cancelled and virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it felt like the right time to take that step, she said.

"It's a huge occasion for Prairie Theatre Exchange. And we're very grateful and appreciative to Cherry for giving us permission to name the theatre after her, because she could have said no if she didn't want this kind of attention," Li said.

"But she said yes, and now we get to honour her this way, and it's very special for us."

Along with the unveiling of the new name, PTE also announced an award in her honour. The $5,000 Cherry Karpyshin Arts Management Prize will be given every year to an early-career Manitoban arts administrator to support the advancement of their career. 

Prairie Theatre Exchange begins its 2022-23 season later this month with Katharsis — a digital on-demand presentation that was first commissioned and presented in 2020, when the pandemic forced live events to halt.

PTE's first live performance of the season will be in November, with Bad Parent by Kim's Convenience creator Ins Choi — a show that was originally set to premiere at PTE in the fall of 2020.