RuBarb Productions Inc. takes final bow;
professional theatre company ceases operations
Moose Jaw’s professional theatre company, RuBarb Productions Inc. has closed its doors for good after five years of providing vibrant theatre and School of the Performing Arts in the community.
The company officially ceased operations on September 28, citing the lack of financial sustainability in its decision to shut down.
In a release, RuBarb said, “following the summer theatre festival, the Board reviewed the total operations of RuBarb Productions, including the School of the Performing Arts and concluded that RuBarb Productions is no longer financially sustainable.” RuBarb’s decision comes on the heels of an unstable year for the theatre group as it fought to keep its doors open after they were asked to evict their home of one year, the Moose Jaw Cultural Center. The Board says, however, that it was a collection of factors that were considered, that caused the theatre company to shut down for good.
Former Board Chair and member Glenn Hagel says he will not “point any fingers” to any one factor that may have stimulated this decision, but the company was no longer feasible to operate. “I don’t want to point any fingers. When reaching the conclusion, it’s never any one single factor but a combination of factors. The fact is that our revenues for the summer theatre festival were lower than expected and quite different from what was anticipated, and it brought us to the point where we thought that we were no longer financially sustainable and the responsible thing to do was to cease operations. We reached the point where we no longer had finances and couldn’t see a way of moving forward.” Hagel says they are now in the process of dissolving the corporation.
“We’ve ceased operations and are now in the process of dissolving the corporation. When you’re a non-profit corporation and you ceased to operate, then the final step of that is to dissolve the corporation so we’re now in the process of doing that. Seeing that it’s no longer operating, it will cease to exist as a corporate entity.”
He thanked the community for its support over the five-year period.
“I hope that the experience of RuBarb Productions has contributed to Moose Jaw’s appreciation of the arts and understanding of the importance of support for the arts as a valuable part of the community. We have a deep appreciation for the many people and organizations and businesses that supported RuBarb over the last five years. Without all of those supports, it would have been impossible to have a professional theatre company and School of Performing Arts.
“We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been supportive, including the many people who purchased tickets and supported our performances. We wish we could see the continuation of a professional theatre here in Moose Jaw but perhaps, another day.”