Local theatres wondering when the show will go on
On March 12 of this year the Province of Quebec made the announcement that indoor gatherings of more than 250 people were officially banned. It was one of the first of what would become daily announcements of new measures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus and, as a result of that announcement, theatres and performance venues across the province had to scramble to announce what, at the time, was going to be a series of postponements.
A little over two months later, in a time when many of those spaces would usually be moving into a busy summer season, the seats still sit empty and, in many cases, inaccessible even to staff.
“Like for everyone in Quebec, it is a very destabilizing situation,” said Mario Trépanier, General Manager of the Université de Sherbrooke’s Centre Culturel, the complex that includes the Maurice-o’bready Hall and the Antoine Sirois Art Gallery. “We are in a new world.”
Trépanier talked about the world of arts and culture as moving through the stages of grief while standing in solidarity with the collective mission of beating the virus.
“We were the first to close and there’s a chance we will be the last to restart, the general manager said, reflecting on the fact that although there has been a great deal of ingenuity and creativity brought about by the shutdown, the core mission of any performance venue is one of bringing people together, which works against the current flow of society.
“Live arts is live arts,” agreed Sonia Patenaude of Centennial Theatre in Lennoxville, arguing that the best televised show in the world just doesn’t stand up against being at a performance in person. “It’s not just something you go see, it’s something you feel, it’s something you share.”
Although she said artists’ efforts to fill the cultural void are appreciated and important, Patenaude argued that they are “band-aid” solutions to a larger problem to which there is no good solution right now.
“It’s a waiting game,” she said, “and the questions are endless.”
Although there is a serious question of what theatres and other venues can be expected to present once they are allowed to open again in some form, Trépanier said that the “what” all depends on the “when”.
“It remains to be seen how long the wait will be,” he said, pointing out that the first month of restrictions saw an evolution from temporary delays to a fixed closure up to May 4. While that process was complicated enough in the way that it required contacting all the performers and audience members to inform them of delays and later cancellations, the manager said that what came next was much worse. “The last message we got as presenters was a halt on activities until further notice, and not having a precise date is very difficult to work with. When it was until May 4 then we had a clear restart date, but now everything is up in the air, and no one knows for how long. ‘Until further notice’ could mean two hours, or it could mean two years.”
“We’ve had to come up with plan a,b,c,d,” Trépanier continued, “but we’re working off of hypotheses. No one has a crystal ball.”
The manager said that even if it was delayed later, having a fixed date to aim for would give room for concrete action. He said that the Centre Culturel will need at least two to three months of preparations in advance to restart programming at this point and argued that starting that work too early could make it all for nothing.
“We’re staying optimistic because things seem to evolve so quickly,” he said. “If we look at what has happened in the last month in terms of deconfinement, and things seem to be going well… it’s moving quickly. There might be room for pleasant surprises. We need to be optimistic, but stay realistic.”
Centennial doesn’t have programming of its own to work on or nearly as many patrons to call, but Patenaude said that this time of uncertainty has been challenging for that theatre’s team as well.
“We’re working on making wishlists for an unknown future,” she said, explaining that although the shutdown has made room for work like updating the emergency plan, there are limits to what can be accomplished from home as time goes on, particularly for the technicians.
Staffing concerns are a large part of the equation of concern for Suzanne-marie Landry, Executive and Artistic Director of the Granada Theatre
“It’s very different for the Granada,” Landry said, pointing out that whereas the staffs of the University theatres are paid by their respective schools, the private theatre needs to consider the needs of its employees. At the moment the entire crew has been temporarily laid off, but the director said that there are limits to how long she is comfortable keeping things that way out of concern that their employees will find work elsewhere.
“We don’t want to lose our employees, and they want to work,” she said, explaining that the Granada is being forced to look at a whole new operating model in the hope of being able to bring people back.
Whereas pre-pandemic shows might have brought in 1,000 people, Landry said that the theatre is now looking at a cap of 290 and is crossing its fingers that a dinner-show set up in partnership with local restaurants will be profitable enough to keep the signature performance space afloat.
“It’s like working in a whole new venue,” Landry said, adding that due to a lack of government feedback, there is no way to know whether this plan will even be allowed to go ahead or not. What’s more, even if the plan is allowed, Landry said that there is no indication that it will be a success
“Even in the case that we cannot break even, it is better than sitting here closed,” she said, opting to work on the philosophy that something is better than nothing.
Even in the best case scenario, however, Landry said that she cannot see the Granada reopening in any form before the end of September.
Patenaude also said that she was intrigued and hopeful about discussions around alternative performance ideas like outdoor theatre and physically distanced orchestras, but said that no matter what these kinds of shows will be complicated to set up, perform, and attend.
Trepannier, meanwhile, said that while he thinks there is merit in running pilot projects of physically distanced audiences, it cannot work in the long term.
“It is certainly not profitable, but it’s also worth asking whether that is an enjoyable experience for the audience. Is it worth the trouble?” he asked. “I think it is worthwhile to try things, but just to test and see how they go.”
Ultimately the question came back to one of timing. Where Trepannier said that he now has room to devote time and energy to the reopening of the art gallery, planning for the larger hall will continue to happen largely in the dark until the government provide some clarity on when they will be able to open their doors again.
“We are at work, but we cannot get to the culmination of all that work, which is the show,” he said. “We know where we are going, but it would be great to get our hands on one of those crystal balls right now to know when we’re going to be able to get there.”