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COVID-19 disrupts Airdrie's theatre groups

Continued restrictions on gatherings because of the coronavirus has disrupted the seasons of Airdrie’s theatre groups.
COVIDTheatresWeb
Local theatre companies have been forced to postpone or cancel their spring productions due to COVID-19. Photo Submitted/For Airdrie City View

Airdrie's theatre groups have seen their seasons disrupted due to continued restrictions on gatherings related to the coronavirus.

Two troupes – Nose Creek Players (NCP) and Torchlight Theatre – have had to postpone or cancel their spring productions, along with other events, fundraisers and workshops.

“We’re very fortunate, because of our strong relationship with the City [of Airdrie] and Bert Church LIVE Theatre, rather than cancelling our production of Alice in Wonderland [originally scheduled May 21 to 23], we were able to postpone it to November,” said Robin McKittrick, president of NCP’s board of directors.

The group will now mount the production Nov. 12 to 14, and McKittrick is hopeful the added time will allow the show to be even better.

“It gives us a little extra time to try some different exercises and really delve into things and unpack the character development,” he said.

Unfortunately, this year’s Foothills Regional One Act Play Festival, which NCP was hosting for the first time April 24 to 25, was cancelled outright.

“The situation is what it is, but that won’t stop us from doing it another year,” McKittrick said, adding NCP learned “a great deal” about what it takes to host the festival.

For Torchlight Theatre, everything – Spark Youth Program classes, a pub night fundraiser, and its production of The Rainmaker, slated to run April 30 to May 9 – has been shut down, according to Executive Director Chelsea Restall.

“The classes we were going to offer were spring classes, so they would have wrapped up at the end of May,” she said. “Those have been cancelled. The production’s been cancelled, because you need that time to build and sell tickets and everything, and shows don’t do very well in the summertime.”

The fundraiser – originally scheduled for March 21 – may still go ahead later in the year, Restall said, although with the economic impacts of the pandemic, she acknowledged many individuals and businesses may not be in a position to support the arts right now.

“Our art form is so dependent on people coming and enjoying it, and it’s become something they can’t afford anymore or people are afraid to get together in groups after this,” she said. “It really affects what we can do.”

This is especially difficult, Restall said, as Torchlight Theatre had just returned from a year-long hiatus and had recently found a new home at the Polaris Centre for the Performing Arts in Rocky View County. Now, the future of the company is in question.

“Losing our classes and our fundraiser – those are two of our big money-makers,” Restall said. “Without those, financially, we’re in a very different situation than we were, so we have to wait and assess what’s even possible for us next season.”

Still, Airdrie’s performing arts community is making the best of the uncertain circumstances. For NCP, McKittrick said, just because they can’t meet in person does not mean they aren’t able to perform together. The troupe has been preparing and posting weekly “reader’s theatre” videos on Facebook and Instagram.

“We’ve been doing some adaptations of some classic literature,” McKittrick said. “A couple of members of our theatre community have adapted the material, and…we’ve been performing these using Zoom.”

So far, the group has performed Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of the Musgrave Ritual, Tarzan of the Apes and A Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

“It’s a great opportunity to continue to be creative, and also to socially connect, which is so important when everyone is physically distancing,” McKittrick said.

He added that he feels the pandemic may be reminding residents not to take Airdrie’s cultural offerings for granted.

In the future, Restall said, performing arts in Airdrie will need the financial and promotional support of the community to ensure it has a place in that city.

“When we have productions going on, or art installations, share that information on your social media, share it with your friends and family, keep the information around [and] keep the arts organizations in front of people’s faces so that when things do happen, they are made aware of it and have the opportunity to come out and participate in it,” she said.

Ben Sherick, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @BenSherick

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