Rental Services

Our Theatres

Pumphouse Theatre has two theatres in our venue: The Joyce Doolittle Theatre and the Victor Mitchell Theatre. The Victor Mitchell has two seating configurations: The full Victor Mitchell which is the lower section of seating and the balcony area; and the Shed configuration which is only the lower level of seating in the Victor Mitchell Theatre.

You can take a virtual tour of the Pumphouse Theatre by clicking here.

What kind of events happen at the Pumphouse Theatres?

Our two theatres are rented out year-round primarily for theatre productions and Pumphouse Drama Classes and Camps. We also accept rental requests for dance, cultural events, informational presentations, rehearsal space, set building, meetings and more!

Please note that The Pumphouse Theatre generally does not accept rentals for weddings and other events that require seated food service or may lead to excessive alcohol consumption. It’s not that we don’t love a festive celebration, we are just not equipped to host you adequately. We are also unable to accept rentals for any events that require aerial performance as part of the show or most shows with pyrotechnics.

Seating Capacity

Joyce Doolittle Theatre has a maximum capacity of 62 patrons. The Victor Mitchell Theatre has a maximum capacity of 300 patrons. The Shed Configuration in the Victor Mitchell has a maximum capacity of 135 patrons.

*Notes on seating capacities: Maximum seating capacity is not the total amount of tickets you can sell for a performance. Mandatory ushers and fire code egress requirements can reduce the amount of tickets that can be made available to attendees. 1 usher per 50 expected patrons is required. Placement of performance required items may also reduce seating capacity to maintain proper fire egress. This placement varies per theatre. We are happy to work with you in your planning stages to maximize your patron attendance and artistic vision, while working within the legally required rules.

How we operate

Pumphouse Theatre primarily supports community, emerging and small professional theatre based organizations. In order to keep our rental rates affordable for these groups, we generally do not mandate the use of our staff for rentals. Your rental charges include one staff member on site at all times in a supervisory and educational capacity as well as concession operation during performance. Rental clients can either provide their own volunteers or staffing, that Pumphouse Theatre staff will work with to ensure they are qualified to operate the equipment and use best practices in setting up and operating your show. They will also ensure that your front of house team knows that is expected and what to do in the event of an emergency. If you are unable to provide your own staff or would like assistance, onsite additional staff can be requested in advance of your booking. Additional staffing is subject to availability and costs are listed in our rental rates document.

Non-theatrical rentals may have mandatory additional staffing required and will be quoted based on event needs.

Technical Specifications

Both theatres are fully equipped with theatrical lighting, audio, drape and patron seating. Both theatres have a mix of LED and traditional theatre lighting to help elevate and simplify fulfilling your artistic impact. For full information please see our technical specification document: Technical Specifications

Rental Rates

As the Pumphouse Theatre primarily provides rental services to community, emerging and small professional organization, all rental rates publically posted are for registered NFP Organizations, Charities, Community Groups and Artist Collectives. If your organization isn’t one of those listed, please contact us for an estimate of charges with the information requested in the How to rent us section.

The rental rate sheet can be found here: Rental Rates

How to rent us

If you have read everything above this and we seem like a good fit for your event or performance, here are the next steps.

Send us an email to operations@pumphousetheatre.ca with the following information:

Preferred dates of rental. This can be specific dates or a date range with preferred days of the week and how many days you require.
A brief description of the type of event you want to have. You don’t need to provide a detailed description, not everyone has that available when they start looking for a space to rent. Just a quick 1-2 sentence summary of what you are wanting to do. We want to make sure we can properly support you and that the resources you may need will be available during those dates.
How many patrons are you either anticipating or requiring as part of your show.

If you know of any additional services you may require, please let us know.

I have rented the facility what do I do next?

We are excited to have you with us!

Once rental dates are confirmed, you will receive a contract and deposit invoice. A returned signed contract and payment for deposit invoice is due within 30 days of them being issued. If you have booked your rental with less than 30 days’ notice, a due date for these items will be provided individually. Your rental is not secured until these items are returned.

While planning your event with us, please review our policies and procedures documents, technical specifications and application for theatre use (ATU). These documents contain all of our requirements for rentals.

30 days prior to your first day of rental, we require schedule E of your contract also called the ATU and proof of insurance as listed in your contract provided to us. We will review your ATU and if we see any potential issues with your event we will start a conversation to ensure all our requirements are met and while doing our best to maintain your artistic outcome.

On the first day of your rental the beginning 10-15 minutes will be used to complete a walkthrough of the spaces to agree upon the condition its received in. Spaces must be returned to the same state that they were received in at the beginning of your rental or additional charges may apply.

Riser Rentals

The Calgary Foundation Centennial Stage is a reusable, portable stage provided at a low cost to Calgary’s cultural community and made possible through the generosity of the Calgary Foundation. The Centennial Stage is available for use by community and professional arts groups that currently work with the Pumphouse Theatre as well as cultural and community organizations in greater Calgary. To view the Loan Request Form click here. Once the request form has been completed and submitted to you will be contacted about availability. For more information about borrowing the Calgary Foundation Centennial Stage, please contact the Productions and Operations Manager at operations@pumphousetheatre.ca

Additional Information and documents

If you have a question that hasn’t been answered yet please reach to our Operations Manager at operations@pumphousetheatre.ca. Email will always be the fastest reply.

Please see below all of the documents referenced on this page below: