Spring is here in Calgary now and things are looking more different than ever at Ghost River Theatre. Because of the global pandemic, Eric, Kate and Andrew are working from home for the foreseeable future, which means we're seeing a lot more of our families and a lot less of our theatre. Last week the West Village Theatre announced it would be closing until further notice. Theatres are meant to be active, but our theatre is empty, just like countless others across the country.
So what does that mean for us? Right now, we are making plans to bring some theatre to you. We are fortunate to receive operating funding from the government, so we're not currently in a financial crisis. However, we know that in times like this arts are more important than ever. In a time of self-isolating and social distancing, human connection is more important than ever. Our Executive Director Kate Stadel says, "We want to continue to provide a home for arts and culture in our community because we know that is what people will turn to when they're feeling alone or isolated. We'll be here through these uncertain times."
We have just made the very difficult decision to cancel our upcoming production of ONE by Jason Carnew, which was set to run at the West Village Theatre in Calgary from May 20th to 31st, 2020. You can read more about that below. Ghost River Theatre has always been nimble and adaptive by nature. We’re exploring how to embrace our new reality. We're making plans now on ways for you to journey through these times with us and we'll be announcing some new projects soon, so stay tuned.
In the meantime, we'll take a note from Mayor Nenshi and pass along these wise words to live by now: "Clean hands, clear heads, open hearts."
Kind regards,
Eric, Kate, and Andrew
The Ghost River Theatre Team
Our tour of ONE by Jason Carnew to Factor Theatre in Toronto was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 13th, 2020. We were deeply saddened by this news and we are standing together with all the other companies and artists across Canada that are now in similar circumstances due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
After closely monitoring the coronavirus pandemic over the last two weeks, Ghost River Theatre has made the decision to cancel the production of ONE in Calgary, which was set to run at the West Village Theatre from May 20th to 31st, 2020. Ghost River Theatre’s top priority is the health and safety of our artists, staff, volunteers, and patrons. Our hearts are with the artists of this show and their families as we say goodbye to this production. We will continue to follow the most up-to-date guidelines from Alberta Health Services, World Health Organization (WHO), and the provincial and federal governments as we look to the future for the company.
If you are a ticket holder for ONE, you will be contacted shortly with information regarding your tickets for this production. Please be patient with us as we work through this troubling time. We also ask you to consider donating the cost of your tickets to Ghost River Theatre. As a non-profit society, we rely on donations from our patrons in order for us to create new works of theatre. This is important now more than ever.
To stay up to date on further developments with Ghost River Theatre, please visit www.ghostrivertheatre.com/news. Thank you for your understanding and support at this time.