With province-wide restrictions extended, BC arts leaders call for provincial task force on COVID-19 recovery
Performing-arts theatres and cinemas want to be treated like other businesses, not “events”
Jessica Schneider, executive director of the Massey Theatre Society, says that theatre operators want the chance to present their COVID-19 safety procedures to the government to be considered for approval to reopen. Photo by Andres Markwart
LEADERS OF B.C. arts organizations affected by the extension of the province-wide restrictions to February 5 say they weren’t surprised by the recent announcement. They understand the crucial need to keep people safe and flatten the curve. However, they say they want to be given the same chance as other businesses in B.C. that continue to operate with COVID-19 policies and procedures in place—and for decision-makers to come to the table and better understand the way arts groups function and exist as businesses.
Several arts and cultural leaders from across the province have collectively submitted a request for a COVID-19 task force with the provincial government—similar to the Tourism Task Force, which formed in September with 11 business and industry leaders to help the sector recover from the impacts of the pandemic and put the it “on a path toward long-term growth”.
Donna Spencer, artistic producer of the Firehall Arts Centre, who’s leading the effort, says that the request was submitted several weeks ago, after Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s November order that theatres and cinemas cease operations.
“There appears to be such a lack of knowledge or understanding within public health authority as to what we actually do as professional organizations,” Spencer tells Stir. “That’s really the goal of the task force: to have discussions to help with the understanding of what we do.
“It seems to be missing the value of what we do to be called an event when you’re an ongoing operating business,” she adds. “We operate under the [B.C.] Labour Code. We work with other professional organizations, like IATSE [International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees]. We understand the need for restrictions and we’re not wanting to jeopardize people’s lives. We just want them to hear what we do, understand what we do, then make a decision.”
The Firehall Arts Centre’s Donna Spencer would like to see a task force established to help the arts and culture sectors recover from the effects of COVID-19.
The arts groups that have asked for a task force include representation from the Island, the Interior, and Greater Vancouver, Spencer says, the list getting longer as the pandemic drags on.
The current restrictions go back to November 19, when the province released a public health order saying “events and social gatherings” for under 50 people were banned. The definition of events included performing-arts theatres and cinemas. The order was in place until December 7, then extended to January 8, and most recently extended again to early February.
Following the recent extension, the Kay Meek Arts Centre in West Vancouver issued a release saying it has postponed all performances it had previously scheduled during that period (with full physical distancing and other COVID-19 health and safety measures in place). The planned performances included those by Jim Byrnes, First We Eat, Higher Ground: Stevie Wonder Revisited, La Belle Epoque, Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles, Genius Loci, Boxcar Campfire with Paul Pigat Trio, Call Me Human, Baby, Take a Bow! The Birth of the Hollywood Musical: 1929-1936, and Amanda Wood and Friends.
No active exposures or outbreaks have been linked to any theatre in B.C since the pandemic began.
Theatre operators say that venues that offer year-round arts programming are not being viewed or treated as the business and economic vehicles that they are.
“I think we feel we are entirely misunderstood in that we are not one-off events; we are professional facility operators with a long-standing tradition of maintaining all manner of safety procedures to keep performers and audiences safe in dynamic settings,” says Jessica Schneider, executive director of the Massey Theatre Society, which operates and programs the historic Massey and the Anvil Centre Theatre. “We have Serving It Right [the BC program for responsible liquor sales]. We have all that stuff in place at all times, and we have people responsible for public safety as well as workplace safety. We’re not volunteer-run. We have professional safety assignments, and we feel misunderstood that precautions are in place.”
Schneider notes that certain businesses, such as dance schools, are permitted to present their safety plan to public health officers to be considered for approval to operate on a case-by-case basis. It’s only fair that arts venues like those in New Westminster she oversees have the same opportunity, she says.
“That’s part of the aim of the [proposed] task force, to bring awareness of how theatres are businesses with professional staff and safety protocols of all kinds,” Schneider says. “In some cases, facilities are more cautious than restaurants are able to be because of the way we’re staffed. We’re not running food around; we’re managing conduct in the space at all times.”
Part of the challenge in bringing this information to light is that arts organizations don’t have a powerful lobby like in the film industry, she says. Not operating means a very real chance that many arts groups will not survive.
“There’s decades of cultural development that can collapse,” Schneider says. “It’s all intertwined. We do intersect with tourism; we do intersect with education; we do intersect with commercial music, film, and television. Across the board, we feel there are other sectors that are being taken more seriously as an asset, economically and socially.”
The people who work in the sector—performers, craftspeople, lighting designers, set designers, costume designers, and so on—don’t have a safety net, Schneider adds. She’s seeing many migrate to other sectors to keep a roof over their heads.
Firehall Arts Centre artistic producer Donna Spencer.
While no one in the arts community is opposed to regulations aimed at public safety, Spencer says there are inconsistencies that have left many perplexed. “A sports bar can have a capacity based on its floor size and have people come in who have not pre-bought tickets to watch a hockey game that might be on for two hours,” she says. “Theatres can ensure physical distancing and have the ability to say people have to wear masks for a performance that might be an hour or two hours long. The logic doesn’t work.”
Corinne Lea, CEO of the Rio Theatre, says that she’s deeply disappointed that venues like hers are not allowed to reopen. For example, she says that when people go to see films, they typically go alone or with one or two other people, just as if they were going to a restaurant; at the movie theatre, they don’t interact with staff.
“Before this recent order we were open safely for five months without incident,” Lea says. “The recent order to extend the closure of cinemas is devastating news. We feel we are completely invisible and are beginning to lose hope.”
Adds Rachel Fox, the Rio’s movie programmer: “We’re looking for the same opportunity to safely operate within the COVID protocols afforded to those in the hospitality industry.”
Arts leaders worry about effects on youth
More broadly, other arts leaders who work specifically with youth are concerned about the impact that the pandemic will have on the communities and individuals they serve.
Valerie Methot, executive and artistic director and producer of Some Assembly Theatre Company, is one. A professional theatre playwright, director, designer, visual artist, and community-engaged theatre artist, she is artist-in-residence at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, where she created the RHYTAG (Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group) project. The group’s yearly youth theatre projects involve diverse youth working in collaboration with professional artists to create plays addressing issues that youth face, including mental health challenges and the stigma attached.
She, too, understands and respects the government’s need to make and enforce regulations to flatten the curve and the public’s obligation to follow the rules. However, she senses that arts organizations and the way they function are misunderstood.
“On first read [of the extension of the current restrictions], it’s very challenging, disheartening, and confusing,” Methot says. “Anyone who leads a theatre company that I know has been incredibly careful about developing a safety plan, and it’s the same with us. We are super careful. We want everybody to be safe. I don’t understand why it really feels like we’re being targeted—not just theatre but all the arts—because it really seems, based on my experience and what I’m hearing from my peers, that we are all being very careful about our safety plans, and we take it very seriously.
“We don’t want to harm anybody,” she says. “Our theatre company exists for the pure reason of promoting health and wellness among young people, so why would we cut corners? I would love to have a conversation with them [Henry and Dix] and explain who we are. Please trust us.”
Some Assembly digitally adapted its recent production, Uprooted, and is now developing a new script that is being planned for digital release but that will be rewritten for live shows should theatres open up. The forthcoming play will explore the increasing mental-health struggles in youth due to COVID-19.
Valerie Methot is the executive and artistic director and producer of Some Assembly Theatre Company. Photo by Jamie Baxter
Methot says she wrote an email to Henry a few months ago about the effects of pandemic restrictions on the arts—and ways to safely move forward—naively thinking she would get a response. In that message, she expressed her concern for the youth she works with, many of whom are at-risk.
“We all have integrity in this project and in this company, and we want to promote self care and compassion and strong, caring communities,” Methot says. “If we can get 10 minutes to explain this, it would make a world of a difference.”
Rehearsals for Some Assembly’s new project are to start later this month; everything is currently being done via Zoom. Methot says that prior to the recent shutdowns, whenever members of the troupe met in person, physical distancing was strictly enforced, and COVID-19 screening and hand-washing were routine. “What we do is very different from a personal event,” Methot says. “I understand when people gather in someone’s home, it’s different. Our guards are down. It’s very different in a theatre. We’re artists trying to survive—of course we’re going to follow the rules.”
Elaine Carol is the director of MISCELLANEOUS Productions, a hip-hop theatre boot camp for community youth—including those in rural and remote areas and some from West Bank First Nation—which creates and presents an original theatrical work every two years. Typically, the company also tours, gives free peer-run workshops for at-risk youth, and makes films about their performances, with youth collaborating with nationally and internationally recognized performing arts professionals, from directors to costume designers to choreographers. The organization is a community partner of the Dance Centre, where it’s currently working on a workshop series called Distance Hats as part of the creation of its forthcoming Plague: An International and Indigenous Fairy Tale and Folklore Project.
Originally, the group was to hold the visual- and costume-art creation workshops in person, but they’re now being done via Zoom, with 200 hat-making kits being distributed to youth. “It’s been really, really hard,” Carol says. “I really miss the youth. I’m really worried about a lot of our youth.
“Many arts organizations across Canada—especially smaller ones in community-engaged arts—don’t know what our funding is going to look like,” she adds. “I’m having a tough time planning. I stopped planning any new programming in any concrete way past April. Do I plan a full online season? Do I plan for recovery? We’re trying to keep as many people working as possible. I don’t know if I’m going to have to lay off staff…which is heart-breaking and soul-destroying. There are emotional consequences of cutting people. I’m not sleeping very well.”
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