4th Line Theatre in Millbrook cancels 2020 season
Two productions postponed to 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic
MILLBROOK — Millbrook’s 4th Line Theatre cancelled its entire 2020 season on Tuesday after the Ontario government announced that performing arts shows won’t be allowed to return until the third stage of the province’s reopening of the economy from the COVID-19 state of emergency.
Kim Blackwell, the theatre’s managing artistic director, said the board pushed the drastic decision off as long as it could.
“I’m very devastated at the idea of not having art at the 4th Line for the first time in almost 30 years,” Blackwell said. “And I’m sick and worried for all of the artists, technicians, designers and administrators who just lost their jobs because we can’t open up.”
The two productions planned for this season — “The Great Shadow” written by Alex PochGoldin and directed by Deb Williams and Maja Ardal’s “Wishful Seeing” directed by
Blackwell — will now take place in 2021.
For many reasons, this year will go down in history, Blackwell said. Many milestones have been missed, families have been separated, those living in long-term-care homes have been put at extreme risk, as well as all of the sicknesses and deaths, she said.
In light of the death of George Floyd — a Black man killed on May 25 by a white Minneapolis police officer who placed his knee on his neck during an arrest — Blackwell said she is heartsick for the plight of Black Americans and Canadians and the racism that they face.
“I feel like the world is experiencing a seismic shift with not only COVID-19, but also with the mass protests across the globe, demanding an end to systemic anti-black racism,” Blackwell said.
“Art is political in its nature, and it would have been remiss of me to not say something about it and to recognize that we have to do better at 4th Line, and all over the world in every sector.”
For the last couple of weeks, Blackwell said she’s been silent on the issue while listening and learning from Black voices.
“I want acknowledge my privilege with my whiteness and I want to be someone who is listening to other voices and learning from them, but I also didn’t want to stay silent, because I think silence is dangerous as well,” she said.
The theatre wants to ensure everything necessary is being done to address racism and continue to make inclusivity a priority, Blackwell said.
“Here at 4th Line Theatre, we are committed to looking at all of our artistic and administrative decisions over the next few months through a lens of ending anti-Black racism,” she said.
“People who make art — good art — have a responsibility to advance individuals and communities who have been historically marginalized and underrepresented by amplifying their stories, by building a culture that reflects their reality, and perhaps most powerfully, by giving them a platform to speak for themselves.”
Funded by the Government of Canada/Financé par le Gouvernement du Canada.