Call it a full circle of sorts.

When last interviewed for Peace Arch News 鈥� by this reporter 鈥� some 20 years ago, Ashlie Corcoran was a Semiahmoo Secondary grad packing furiously to head to Newfoundland as a youth delegate to an international conference on preserving the oceans.

From there, the academic high-achiever (she earned a 4.0 grade-point average in high school) was to travel straight on to Hearstmonceaux Castle in Sussex, England to study for a year under a scholarship established by Ontario鈥檚 Queens University, owners of the castle.

Now, the White Rock native 鈥� she was born in Peace Arch Hospital 鈥� is packing again, this time for a move that will take her and Mabel, her faithful English Springer Spaniel, back from Ontario to Metro Vancouver.

It will bring her closer to her parents, who now live in Qualicum Beach, her older brother, Sean, who lives in Ladner and other family members.

But the main reason for her latest move is a plum assignment in the arts realm.

Now well-established as a highly versatile and dynamic Canadian theatre and opera director 鈥� her revival of the British musical warhorse Me and My Girl opened this year鈥檚 Shaw Festival 鈥� Corcoran will take over as artistic director of the Arts Club Theatre Company when Bill Millerd retires early in 2018.

Artistic director of Ontario鈥檚 Thousand Islands Playhouse since 2012 鈥� when reached by phone last week, the Dora Award-winner was in the midst of rehearsals for their latest production 鈥� she will help plan the Arts Club鈥檚 next season when she arrives in B.C. in October.

Her assignment will also allow her to continue practising her craft by directing three shows a year, she said.

Corcoran acknowledges that her current career may surprise some Peninsula residents who remember her from high school.

鈥淏ack then I was really involved in the music program,鈥� she said, noting she has known current Semiahmoo band teacher Dagan Lowe since they were both in Grade 1 at Ray Shepherd Elementary, and still has fond memories of band teacher Kevin Lee 鈥� still very much in evidence at the school 鈥� from when she played trumpet in the award-winning jazz bands and sang in the jazz choir.

There were a few hints of coming events in PAN鈥檚 1997 article, however.

It pointed out that, while she excelled in most subjects, including sciences, she had 鈥渁 strong leaning toward the arts鈥� and was looking forward to courses in literature and arts history at Hearstmonceaux, including weekly field trips to London鈥檚 museums and galleries.

The last paragraph 鈥� prophetically 鈥� noted a 鈥渟urprising career goal鈥�to be a professional stage manager for Shakespeare and musical theatre productions.鈥�

Corcoran admits that all those field trips from Hearstmonceaux 鈥� including seeing plays and musical shows in London鈥檚 West End 鈥� only reinforced her yen to be involved in the theatre and the creative possibilities of the medium.

An email preserved by her parents, which she no longer recalls writing, said that while she was enjoying stage-managing a student production of Terence Rattigan鈥檚 Harlequinade, what she really wanted was to direct 鈥� 鈥渂ut I鈥檓 only 18.鈥�

鈥淚 think I knew all along I wanted to direct 鈥� being away for that year had a really strong impact on me,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淟ooking back, I can really see the steps.鈥�

There was no question it was her path by the time she returned to Canada for further studies at Queens, where she graduated in 2001 with an honours degree in drama, followed by another sojourn in England for studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where she received her MA in directing in 2004.

Back in Canada in 2005, she co-founded Theatre Smash in Toronto and began a successful freelancing career as a director of theatre and opera (credits include Salt-Water Moon, Waiting For The Parade, Blithe Spirit and Into The Woods, with opera credits including productions of The Magic Flute and The Electric Messiah with the Canadian Opera Company, and Die Fledermaus with the Cowtown Opera Company).

While she鈥檚 been asked if she鈥檚 interested in film, Corcoran said 鈥渕y love affair is with theatre first.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 the live energy between performers and an audience and the feeling that anything can go wrong at any moment,鈥� she added, acknowledging that while the magic of theatre is inevitably doomed to evaporate after the show ends, 鈥渇or me, the legacy is not about leaving a monument, but the process and the relationships and having an effect on the audience.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 so collaborative 鈥� although I鈥檓 technically the director, at the top of the hierarchy, I鈥檓 really at the centre of a wheel, working with imaginative, talented people who are passionate about what they do. I love working with people like that.鈥�

In an early press release on her appointment as Arts Club artistic director she said she is excited to build on 鈥淏ill Millerd鈥檚 phenomenal legacy and collaborate with executive director Peter Cathie White and the Arts Club鈥檚 fantastic staff and board.鈥�

She was also quoted as saying her vision for the company is to 鈥渂e internationally renowned, driving the development of local theatrical talent and voices, while deeply engaging with its community, audience and stakeholders.鈥�

Corcoran said her own theatrical tastes are 鈥渧ery catholic鈥� 鈥� and the kind of work she chooses to direct ranges from highly experimental, such as Theatre Smash鈥檚 recent Kiss, a fourth-wall fracturing examination of theatre鈥檚 often flawed approach, to real-life political issues such as the ongoing Syrian crisis, to very traditional farce (she鈥檚 currently rehearsing Ken Ludwig鈥檚 Leading Ladies with Thousand Islands).

鈥淔or a lot of people, farce is just funny froth, but to do it really well is very complicated.鈥�

People can expect her to choose plays from the whole spectrum, she said.

鈥淚 look at it as conscious eclecticism 鈥� from accessible shows that get people into the theatre to the kinds of opportunities the Goldcorp Stage (the 250-seat studio theatre at the BMO Theatre Centre) provides to develop plays that dig deeper,鈥� she said.