THE Canberra and Queanbeyan theatre communities have been astonished by news that Stephen Pike, artistic director and program manager of The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, will retire from his position at the end of this week.

Mr Pike, who has been at the helm since the opening of The Q in March 2008, has been widely credited with having put the regional theatre on the map. He’s used his wide connections in the theatre world to engage companies from around the country, and his savvy brand of programming mixed popular crowd-pleasers with cutting-edge theatre in a subscription program that has drawn audiences, not just in Queanbeyan but from around Canberra and the region.

He also staged smash hits for The Q, like his 2012 revival of “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical”, and the musical “Blood Brothers”, for which he won a special mention in the Manning Clark House National Cultural Awards.

A legendary figure in local theatre both as a producer and director, before taking up his position with The Q he ran his own theatre businesses at The Bellows Restaurant, Hippo’s Restaurant and Tarzan’s, and was also business manager for Canberra REP for six years.

As a performer gifted with a fine tenor voice, his own leading roles included Jean Valjean in Colin Anderson’s 1996 production of “Les Miserables” for Canberra Philharmonic.

Mr Pike said he felt it was time to move on to allow a new set of ideas to be implemented, describing his 13 years at The Q as “such an amazing opportunity for me… I will be forever grateful for the experience”.