YET ANOTHER BLOW
Struggling arts industry hit hard by two-week ban on live performance
In a normal year, the event calendar at The Cultch is booked at least 18 months in advance.
This year, rather than being well into booking the 2021-22 season, executive director Heather Redfern is trying to curate a program up to May 2021. Trying to keep the York Theatre, the Historic Theatre at The Cultch and the Vancity Culture Lab in business is always a challenge.
The shifting tides of pandemic protective measures have arts and cultural organizations facing extinction-level realities. The new provincial health orders that took effect on Nov. 20 ban social gatherings in live theatres but not cinemas, restaurants and bars — a worst-case scenario come true.
“When we announced our September-to-december program back in the summer, we had already agreed to build in what we referred to as `maximum flexibility,' to avoid being caught up in a repeated cycle of cancellations and rescheduling,” Redfern said. “We wanted to come through, in some way or another, with every promise we made of programming that we could offer. That's what made that timeline so short, and without the wage subsidy program, we didn't know if we would have anything to go past December.”
Three permanent positions at The Cultch were cut. A pivot to expanding video capacity for livestreams and a major training initiative for the technical staff took place. These measures have changed the way the venue presents art, perhaps permanently. They also might be what saves the venerable establishment.
“At first, a lot of artists were looking at waiting it out, but now it's clear that this is going on another year at least, so getting online content up there is pretty key,” Redfern said. “Touring artists who often don't get time at home to create, particularly the better-funded European ones, are probably going to be taking the time to create. So there will be an explosion of new works, as well as a backlog of work that didn't get out there before the shutdown, when things resume.”
Arts Club Theatre Company executive director Peter Cathie White was hopeful about the return to live performances under social distancing rules before last week's announcement. But the third-largest not-for-profit theatre company in Canada after the Shaw and Stratford festivals has had to layoff employees in all areas of operations. And that was before the most recent shutdown.
“Patrons are coming, patrons are feeling safe and we are confident in the measures we are taking, and there have been no incidents,” White said. “But it is not an exercise in revenue generation for a company that is 65-per cent dependent on ticket revenue and 20-per cent patron donations, with very little government funding from all three levels. Obviously, this year is different with everyone using the various subsidies and so forth.”
With live theatre shuttered until at least Dec. 7, the Arts Club faces having to cancel two holiday productions. In a letter delivered to Health Minister Adrian Dix, White and Artistic Director Ashlie Corcoran made their case for live theatre to be permitted to continue.
“The enormous cost of cancelling two productions is a massive blow to the Arts Club's financial sustainability, and to the employment of local artists,” they wrote.
“Additionally, singling out theatre companies for closure reinforces to audiences the misperception that our industry has not met the safety standards required to conduct business. The notfor-profit arts industry has been dealt a particularly cruel blow by this pandemic. We implore you to meet with us and our colleagues so we can directly communicate to you our distress at this latest health order.”
The Arts Club is the largest single employer of artists in the province.
Amid all the doom and gloom there are some positives.
Bronwyn Campbell, the general manager of the Commodore Ballroom, freely admits that 2020 has been a challenging year for all arts presenters. The beloved concert hall turns 90 this month with a performance by Colin James scheduled. The venue hasn't hosted a live audience event since reopening, so the new measures won't alter its continuing live streams.
“It's been a really interesting process for us and we've been really happy with the results and the feedback from audiences is fantastic,” Campbell said.
“No matter where you are in the world, it's like you can get a front-row seat at the Commodore, which might mean lining up for hours normally. This has been a home for so many inspiring and memorable moments for so many audiences, and we'll be ready to go when it they can come back again and make more memories.”
For now, those memories are online or on hold.
The Firehall Arts Centre is just one of a number of facilities that have hosted live music, dance and theatre performances for the past five months without incident. The suspension of live events until Dec. 7 puts the venue's seasonal production, Solstice Greetings, running Dec. 17 to 19 pending approval of the health authority. In the event that current measures aren't lifted, patrons will be notified of a potential virtual performance.
Producer Donna Spencer is hopeful live theatre will continue.
“We are disheartened by the recent restrictions to suspend further operations as our patrons have greatly appreciated the safe haven we have provided for them to enjoy the performing arts, but we respect the advice of Dr. Bonnie Henry and will adhere to these updated orders,” Spencer said in a statement.
Artists and audiences alike are learning to live with the uncertainty of presenting music, dance, theatre and more in this difficult year.
Some, such as Pi Theatre's Richard Wolfe have decided make it a development year, with new works in “discussion.” He thinks that the indie theatre scene is proving to be a viable resource for entry into the digital realm, offering “an intellectual and spiritual proximity to each other, if not the visceral nature of having someone crying in the seat next to you and sharing in that experience.”
Pi Theatre is looking at a minilive stream festival in February and feels that the digital realm is something that smaller companies are certain to keep accessing as a means to expanding the creative dialogue. But Wolfe doesn't think it will ever replace the in-person experience. As the theatre community waits on the OK to reopen, other cultural spaces such as museums are tweaking already in-place safety measures that extra bit more to, hopefully, be able to stay open.
Britannia Mining Museum executive director Kirstin Clausen says that, since reopening in June, the unique indoor/outdoor facility has adapted well with the only real change being the mandatory mask requirement. The museum had always recommended people wear masks during their visits.
“We've put up plexi barriers in any of the shared spaces such as the Boom exhibit and limited the numbers down to less than 20 with room for four family `bubble pods,'” Clausen said. “The new protocols coming out in the winter is at a time when our visitation rates are far lower, particularly without school programs coming. So people can visit and socially distance, there aren't a lot of lineups on the entire big site, and we are certain that we can handle all of the new measures.”
Box office staff at the Museum of Vancouver echoed Clausen, noting the only difference between the lockdowns has been the addition of mandatory masks. Like other museums, the preparations made for the first reopening — everything from timed entry to hand sanitizing stations throughout the facility and social distance markers — satisfy the new requirements.
Singling out theatre companies for closure reinforces to audiences the misperception that our industry has not met the safety standards required to conduct business.