Donate to Phase 2
Every dollar raised through our Fuel the Fire Campaign impacts the local community in positive, meaningful ways! Donate to our Fuel the Fire Campaign where your generosity will benefit…
Edmonton's Performing Artists
the talented performers of the Rapid Fire Ensemble and the next generation of improv superstars, just like Kirsten Rassmussen and Colin Mochrie.
Positivity and Mindfulness
Folks like Julie and the “classic dad-looking gentleman” from the Wellspring workshop.
Life-changing Education
Participants through our Outreach program, like the teens from Boyle Street Education Centre, Amiskwaciy Academy and Delton School
Alberta's Youth
High School Students and from all across Alberta and the theatre programs at their schools through our Wildfire Festival and Northern Alberta Improv League.
A Place for Exchange
After nearly 20 years of saving and searching, we have found a place to call home, a place where we can bring all of our programming & stories under one roof. That place is TELUS’ Strathcona Exchange in the heart of Edmonton’s Old Strathcona theatre district. The land the building sits on is the traditional territory of the Papaschase Cree. The original caretakers of this land have gathered here to share stories for millennia.
The building was originally constructed as a telephone exchange building in 1908 by the Province of Alberta and was sold to the City of Edmonton in 1911. As technology evolved over the last century, so has this building. Additions were made in 1926 and 1948. In 1987, utilizing a vacant section of the building, EdTel opened the Telephone Historical Information Centre, a museum dedicated to the history of telecommunications. In 2004, the museum relocated, and the former museum space has mostly been sitting vacant, except to be used as a makeshift theatre venue during the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival and as offices for the Edmonton Pride Festival Society.
In 2021, Rapid Fire signed a 40-year lease with TELUS and started transforming the former museum into an inclusive, purpose-built improv theatre. Live improv thrives on an exchange between audience and performer.
To honour the land that the building sits on, to keep the history of the original building alive, and to celebrate the experiences we create at Rapid Fire, we have named our home THE RAPID FIRE EXCHANGE.
The Journey So Far
In 2021, Rapid Fire Theatre hired Group2 Architecture and Interior Design (the same design team behind the newly rebuilt Roxy Theatre on 124 street) to take on the exciting task of transforming a 110-year-old telephone exchange into a joyous place for learning and laughs. Together with the team from Delnor Construction, this renovation project is in great hands.
Building a theatre is no small feat. After years of planning and fundraising, we opened Phase 1 of the Rapid Fire Exchange in spring of 2023. This unique new theatre space is already running at full capacity, hosting over 400 performances every year and hundreds of improv classes. Phase one was made possible thanks to the generous support of our donors and funders, and thanks to years of plugging our own piggy bank.
Phase 1 of the building includes our intimate & accessible main theatre, our beautiful lobby (featuring the world’s largest beaglepuss), as well as our backstage facilities.
Construction Photos
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at Phase 1 being built!
The Journey Still to Go
Phase 2 of the building will transform the unused lower level spaces into the home of our improv academy. It is here that we will offer our most transformative programming. Improv classes teach participates confidence, positivity, listening, and how to celebrate failures.
Our outreach programming will also call this space home, meaning we can bring these life-changing skills to even more underrepresented and diverse communities.
Activating this community hub will also free up many hours in our main theatre space, allowing us to serve more of Edmonton’s vibrant improv & theatre community.
Donate in Support of Phase 2Thank You
Thanks to all these folks for their help in shaping our future home:
Brendan Trayner, Jarrett Campbell, Amir Reshef, Jeff Martens, Garth Crump, Brett Miller, Erin Birkenbergs, Ian Benbow, Mike Strandberg, Patrick Chorley, Stephen Faust, Andrea Ruether, Aaron Bonifacio, Dean Schnelback, Jason Deboski, Lucas Specht, Todd Worrell, Karen Brown Fournell, Rhonda Newman, CK Dhaliwal, Lalita Nault, Kelsie Acton, Josh Languedoc, Bradley Moss, Chris Kavanagh, Brad Fisher, and all visioning session attendees.
Project Funders
Project Partners
