Saving English-speaking theatre in Knowlton

DEAR EDITOR:

As John Griffin notes in his article (Tempo, September 2019), Nicholas Pynes served the Theatre Lac Brome (TLB) as Artistic Director for 28 years. He was summarily “retired” last year in a shocking and disgraceful manner. His generous offer of a transitional period was rejected.

But we want to move forward in a non-confrontational way to save Englishspeaking theatre in Knowlton. I moved here 20 years ago because of the rich cultural landscape which includes the theatre. I was involved in amateur dramatics most of my life, firstly in England and later overseas.

The TLB recently received a building grant from Heritage Canada on condition that it continues to fulfill its Mandate of operating an English-speaking theatre. This condition does not mean Music Hall with 51% of the songs in English.

I would remind everyone that a change of Mandate requires first the members’ approval followed by that of the Federal Government. TLB has charitable status.

We understand there have been recent financial problems due to many factors which include increased expenditures and decreased revenues. Previous members of the Board worked very hard with Nicholas Pynes to obtain grants, subsidies and donations with marked success.

The local audience is very bilingual and has enjoyed English theatre in Knowlton for many years, both professional and excellent community theatre. Let’s keep it going.

The TLB AGM is on September 28 at 9.00 a.m. at the theatre. Hope to see you there.

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