The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has hit community theatre (and all performing arts) globally perhaps hardest of all industries. Oakville is, sadly, no exception. Every major community theatre producer in town is cancelling (or expected to cancel) performances until at least September 2021.
The final deciding factor for most productions was the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts announcing last Friday it would remain closed until at least December 31, 2020 and likely longer.
As a result, all productions there from BurlOak Theatre Group, the Oakville Players (TOP) and West End Studio Theatre (WEST) have been cancelled.
These cancellations include the cancellation of both subscription series of live community theatre in Oakville. (The primary one, the Oakville Drama Series, is a joint 5-show package between TOP and WEST. The second is a 3-show package from BurlOak.)
What's going on in Community Theatre after COVID-19
The Oakville Drama Series has fully cancelled their 2020/2021 season. The five productions included:
- The Laramie Project (with WEST, October 2020)
- Twelve Angry Men (with TOP, November 2020)
- Talking With... (with WEST, January 2021)
- Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (with WEST, February 2021) and
- Clue: On Stage (with TOP, March 2021)
The five titles scheduled in this subscription series are all likely to be replaced with new titles in the 2021/2022 season. "We may bring some of these titles back, but that's not our primary focus right now," says Alex Ragozzino, president of TOP and manager of the Oakville Drama Series.
"One of the reasons we cancelled was we need to spend time to develop a workforce safety plan with COVID-19 in mind," says Ragozzino. He continues, "this plan includes both rehearsals and performances."
Those who purchased season tickets have been contracted about deferrals, donations and refunds for their order.
BurlOak Theatre Group
BurlOak Theatre Group recently cancelled their fall 2020 production of Mamma Mia! set for early October. (That's after a delay from its original April 2020 date and it replacing this fall's musical Little Women.)
A decision regarding their 2020/2021 subscription series is likely to come mid-next week. A private meeting with the company, however, took place late yesterday about large-scale productions from now until August 2021. Their upcoming season was to include:
- Mamma Mia! (replacing Little Women, September 2020)
- An Ideal Husband (January 2021) and
- Matilda the Musical (April 2021)
"For the rest of 2020, we're looking for safe things that we're still able to do," says Tim Cadeny, president of the BOTG.
"Now that we know we don't have our space for the rest 2020, we're allowed to start thinking outside the theatre to keep artists and audiences fully engaged."
BOTG's next step is make some work available virtually. Cadeny says BOTG Online's goal is to finding safe ways to create virtual entertainment.
The group was also awarded a cultural grant from Oakville Arts Council. Their project is called "Stages" - helping theatre artists take their work to the next level (in an evolution of "Entertaining Shorts" they've done in past summers.)
Six playwrights with six original plays are working with playwright Marcia Johnson to develop new works.
"We as artists never stop learning," says Cadeny. "A big part of writing is rewriting, so we've been really excited to see what our writers have been working on." The online readings of these new plays will hopefully take place online this fall.
Finally, this year's unannounced holiday pantomime, an Oakville tradition, will not be presented at the Oakville Centre. BOTG is currently looking at other ways of doing the show over the holidays, either in-person based on restrictions, or virtually.
West End Studio Theatre
The West End Studio Theatre is not planning any productions for the rest of 2020, but day camps and classes are still taking place in-person at the studio.
"The kids were really missing the socializing, but also the collaboration and their friends," says Yo Mustafa, one of WEST's directors. "WEST is continuing to hold classes according to the protocols of COVID-19."
One more session of classes will be held this summer. The two week session is scheduled for August 10th-21st, 2020. Mustafa hopes to hold regular fall, winter and spring classes in-person at the studio beginning in September.
But until further safety procedures are able to be put in place, the studio won't have shows. "The studio can fit performances, and because of the cancellation of the theatre, we're still nervous. A lot of people are still nervous about coming to the studio."
There's a possibility of their series show Talking With... next year, because as a monologue play, the actors don't have to work together. The show would be at their 65-seat studio instead of the 493-seat Oakville Centre. And that's still a long time away.
"I don't know what's going on yet, but I'd love to have people at the studio," continues Mustafa. "I'd love to do a show in March 2021. I wanna wait until March because it will be more certain then."
WEST cancelled their annual one-act play festival (that had begun rehearsals) scheduled for May 2020. WEST has also cancelled their Christmas play A Christmas Story, a co-production with the Oakville Centre for this year. The show was scheduled to perform in November 2020.
The Oakville Players
Currently, the Oakville Players have no new projects in development to be performed in 2020. They are, however, exploring some activities like education workshops and behind-the-scenes videos that can be done online.
"We're looking at some things we may or may not be able to do this year. We're looking at some virtual things we might be able to do," says Alex Ragozzino.
In the meantime, the Oakville Players are "currently in the planning phases of new things online, including content for the website."
Discussions are also happening about possible collaborations with other Oakville groups. No official announcement on future works from TOP, however, has been made.
Community theatre shows staged in 2020
For now, it's a certainty that productions from January to early March will be the only local theatre shows mounted in 2020. The companies presented four shows earlier this year.
Read about Oakville's productions of Love, Loss and What I Wore, The Odd Couple, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Footloose by clicking on their respective titles listed here.
All community theatre companies in Oakville are not-for-profit.
