A seat for one, please: early signs show audiences may not be hurrying back to the theatre yet
With numbers below target for the Arts Club’s critically adored No Child…, here’s an argument to use it or lose it—in person or online
Photo by Karen Zhao
I’M NOT GOING to lie: it feels kind of decadent watching a play or movie with empty rows around you these days. No candy-wrapper terrorists, no cellphone forgetters, no program rattlers, no Chatty Cathies, and no elbow-rest hogs. The sightlines? Couldn’t be better.
I don’t go to indoor restaurants right now, but I have been going to VIFF flicks and theatre shows and I’ve felt extremely safe--a lot safer than I do, say, making a grocery-store run. When did people stop caring about the aisle arrows, anyway?
I’ve been in well-ventilated modern venues like the Arts Club’s BMO Theatre Centre site and the Vancity Theatre. The entry and sanitation systems have felt regimented in the extreme, and everyone has masks. Openings at the Anvil Centre and the Firehall are on the calendar for this week.
A lot of people I’ve told about going to the theatre have acted a bit shocked, as if to say, “Do people even do that anymore? Are theatres even open right now?” And these are folks who have happily doffed their masks to chow down in a restaurant.
We’ve come a long way since the start of this crushing pandemic, when the arts community took a cue from Dr. Bonnie Henry’s “be calm” message. Nobody knew what was in store as theatres were shuttered, and panicking clearly wouldn’t help.
Just over six months later, the more fitting motto from Vancouver arts companies should shift toward “Use it or lose it.”
In the last few weeks, theatres have reopened with stringent COVID safety measures and expensive new livestreaming initiatives. But there are unsettling early signs that viewers are not showing up as hoped--either in person or online. And audiences need to understand that could mean even more drastically reduced programming in the new year.
An early hint that things might be amiss arose via the Arts Club Theatre this week. From the outside, things seemed to be going well. No Child…, the first show in a trio of solo works this fall season, opened to rave reviews across the board. Its themes could not be more timely, whether it’s the message that Black lives matter or the importance of teachers and the arts. (Somewhat ironically, it’s also about making theatre happen no matter what the obstacles.) The performances by the alternating solo actors, Celia Aloma and Ali Watson tackling 16 characters, are strong, and the play, by turns funny and moving, has wide appeal.
Celia Aloma in the critically lauded No Child…. Photo by Moonrider Productions
So the Arts Club Theatre artistic director Ashlie Corcoran’s heartfelt plea on her personal Facebook account this week came as a bit of a surprise.
Here it is:
“And another great review!” she wrote, linking to Stir’s rave. “But, here's some real talk friends, family & lovers...
“Not as many people are coming to the theatre as we'd hoped. Not as many people are purchasing streaming tickets to the theatre as we'd hoped. It makes me worried about the level of programming we will be able to do in the mid-term future while we stick handle our way though this long-term pandemic.
“So, if you care about live performance & culture, and you live in Vancouver - please come see our show.
“If you are nervous about the virus - I totally get it. I am very proud of our team and the safety precautions and protocol that is in place. But, if you are still nervous - please stream our show from the comfort of your home.
“If you are a friend, family member or lover who doesn't live in Vancouver, but still believes in the importance of arts and culture to a society - please stream our show from the comfort of your home.”
In a conversation later, Corcoran admitted the company is not seeing the numbers it was projecting. Strategizing for reopening, the Arts Club chose to do long runs for audiences of under 50 on its Newmont Stage at the BMO centre so that as many people as possible could catch it in its socially distanced setting. But it’s only hit about 25 percent of its target for all three shows. In total, there’s room for about 4,000 people to see No Child…, and only about 1,300 have bought tickets.
But the people who have shown up in person have given a strong positive response to the experience. In the Arts Club’s Net Promotion Scores, viewers gave nines and 10s out of 10 for how safe they feel seeing the show. That’s along with thumbs up for the production itself.
Arts Club Theatre artistic director Ashlie Corcoran says low ticket sales this fall could mean even more reduced winter programming.
Asked to guess why people aren’t returning as enthusiastically as projected, Corcoran offers, “I think in person people feel nervous about the virus, which I totally understand. I feel confident and proud of what we’ve done to make sure it’s safe, and masks are mandatory all the time. But I also understand that people feel nervous.” She adds that livestream theatre viewing is still brand new to a lot of potential audience members.
She continues that when she posted her plea, longtime local theatre maker Roy Surette suggested people are “out of practice” when it comes to supporting the arts. “I think there’s some people who just don’t even know that it’s happening,” allows Corcoran, who adds marketing budgets, like everything else, have been slashed.
It’s not as if people haven’t expressed enthusiasm for seeing theatre again. In a Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance Patron Insights study, data collected between July and September showed that 62 percent of BC artsgoers reported a high level of eagerness to return to in-person programming. But comfort levels in actually returning to indoor arts events were more evenly split.
Tellingly, the same survey found 53 percent of patrons had already returned to indoor dining at restaurants. But their plans to return to indoor arts events within the next two months were at about 15 percent to 27 percent.
“What I’m telling organizations is that the reality is not everybody is going to be comfortable,” the alliance’s executive director Kenji Maeda told Stir at the time. “So organizations should hone in on those people who do want to attend, and to make them feel safe and make sure guidelines and physical distancing are in place so people feel safe.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Patron Insights study found the availability of a vaccine will make 70 percent of patrons “much more likely” to attend an arts event. Which brings us back to “Use it or lose it.” Anyone who plans to head back to the arts whenever this whole nightmare ends needs to look into streaming the work being created now. And anyway, haven’t you watched just about all there is to watch on Netflix? Do you really want or need to start plowing through The Office again?
For No Child…, there were 70 livestreams opening night, and the Arts Club has sold just 130 more for the rest of the run. (You can watch the recording for 19 bucks.)
Here’s the threat: Corcoran says that, in the Arts Club’s case, “just being in existence without doing shows is losing money”. She’s talking about insurance and all the upkeep that goes into maintaining venues, even if they aren’t hosting shows. In a normal year, the Arts Clubs depends on about 80 percent of its revenues from ticket sales.
“We were just trying to stave off the losses,” she says of staging this fall’s three solo shows. “The hope for these shows was that they would break even. At this point we need people to come out and if they’re not comfortable, we hope they’ll engage with livestream or on-demand digital streams.”
Things may improve as word-of-mouth spreads about the show, and as rains descend on Vancouver and there aren’t as many outdoor opportunities.
But if they don’t, you might not have the same chance to see shows in early 2021. Theatres like the Arts Club, including the Firehall and the Cultch, have only programmed up to January; they’ll be looking to see how their new approaches worked before they schedule anything more.
“This fall was always going to be an experiment,” Corcoran says.
“Our hope was to replicate this trio through the rest of the year,” she adds. “But if we know this is going to add to our already significant deficit, we’re going to have to look at other ways to stay connected to our community.”
In other words, if you’re waiting for a vaccine before you look into theatre again, it may be too late.
All that said, Dr. Bonnie’s message of “be calm” still rings true.
It’s not time to panic, people. But it’s definitely time to take in a show or two.
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