As the boldest voice of queer theatre on the west coast, the frank theatre company, formerly known as Screaming Weenie Productions, has become synonymous with outrageous, sex-positive performance. The company was conceived from the sweat of founders Matthew Bennet, Ilena Lee Cramer, Dale Kohlmetz and Kären Matthews. From its inception in 1996 until 2008, the company was helmed by Ilena Lee Cramer and became a major voice in the city’s artistic community and a creative beacon in Queer Canada.
In 2008, Seán Cummings was recruited as the company’s next Artistic Director. The company soon gained national recognition as Western Canada’s professional queer performance company with the adoption of such ventures as the Clean Sheets development series, film and video projects, and a more text-based approach to theatre creation. Seán also invited C.E. Gatchalian to collaborate on various projects including the All The World’s A Stage program. Together they grew the company ten-fold before Seán’s departure in 2012.
Artistic Producer C.E. Gatchalian’s (2011 – 2017), leadership in community outreach, production of new works, and commitment to excellence further solidified the frank as an artistic force on the West Coast. New projects included collaborations with companies in other provinces to further the company’s impact on queer theatre while remembering our audience at home in Vancouver.