NAC artistic director steps down

An artistic director with the National Arts Centre is stepping down from the stage after seven years programming theatrical productions with the cultural organization.

Peter Hinton joined the NAC as artistic director of English theatre in 2005 and worked to put the spotlight on Canadian content in theatre programming, the group said in a news release.

That focus led to the creation of the Resident English Theatre Company one year later, which draws on actors across the country to perform in productions such as Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad, an upcoming version of Shakespeare's King Lear with an all-aboriginal cast, and plays from Canadian playwrights and theatre companies.

Hinton will leave the post in the summer of 2012. An NAC committee will choose his replacement.