Marti Maraden Speaks Out

"The high backstage drama at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival may have opened a second act.

"Refusing to exit silently, Marti Maraden says her resignation as co-artistic director 12 days ago was the result of creative interference and an agenda imposed by general director Antoni Cimolino despite earlier assurances that the unusual triumvirate arrangement that was put in place 21 months ago would work as a partnership.

"In an exclusive interview, Ms. Maraden said she was 'misled' about the unconventional leadership construct that she, Don Shipley, Des McAnuff and Mr. Cimolino agreed to in 2006.
'It was supposed to be a partnership, a shared leadership, and Antoni would intervene only if it was urgent, and it came not to be that,' Ms. Maraden said. 'We were misled as to how we were actually functioning.'

"In effect, she said, hers had become an associate's job, without real artistic decision-making authority. 'There was no protocol for decision-making, no clearly defined method either written or spoken by which we could all know when a choice of project or artist had a green light,' she wrote in an e-mail Sunday."

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