McAnuff refills his creative plate

Des McAnuff, who cited an overflowing creative plate as a primary reason for resigning this month as artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, will make room for a similar but shared position starting in 2008 at the Stratford Festival of Canada.

McAnuff, who was born in Illinois but grew up in Ontario, is part of an unusual four-director leadership team the festival announced Monday. Antoni Cimolino, the general director, will take care of business and finances, leaving McAnuff to team with Marti Maraden and Don Shipley, stage directors who have run other theaters in Canada.

McAnuff said Monday that he had turned down an offer of sole leadership of the venerable festival but jumped when Cimolino proposed shared creative duties with no business responsibilities. He said he expects to direct two shows a year in Stratford while maintaining advisory and stage-directing ties to La Jolla after his departure in April.

McAnuff’s agenda of developing musicals for Broadway includes a collaboration with the rock band Flaming Lips that aims to transform the group’s album “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” into a stage piece a la “The Who’s Tommy,” which he created with Who guitarist Pete Townshend.

Mike Boehm