With the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations under way, the end of the long intermission for Canada’s performing arts industry is now in sight – within the next year., based on the advice of the TELUS Medical Advisory Council.Meanwhile, the Stratford Festival, the country’s biggest not-for-profit theatre company, is planning a reduced season beginning in June – tentatively, six productions with separate casts presented in two open-sided tents to audiences of 100 at first.
Indeed, the financial hit of the pandemic has been cruelly uneven – depending on how much of an annual budget comes from grants versus box office, or how much of last season had to be cancelled . An equivalent package in Canada would be about $1.7-billion – but Cimolino stressed that Save Our Stages also “recognizes revenue issues” and “asks theatres to apply and explain their specific situation.” As he puts it: “Program design matters as much as dollars.”
When the time comes to ease attendance limits again, many theatre companies also hope that public-health officials will abandon 2020′s non-targeted policies.
That didn’t save any of the money they make on $15 for 25 cents worth of popcorn?
C'est formidable