During the last in-person performance at the LSPU Hall on Friday, March 13, the board of directors were perplexed and sorrowful as news of a the COVID-19 pandemic trickled in bit by bit.
“The energy in the room was so strange,” said Nicole Rousseau, artistic animateur with the Resource Centre for the Arts Theatre Company. “And nobody (had) a definitive idea of what to do.”
Since that day, it’s been like slowly climbing out of the bottom of a pit, general manager Suzanne Mullett said.
“We’ve been … making little ladders, climbing up a couple steps and then (realizing) OK, we can’t do that, then climbing back down,” she said. “(We’re) just trying to get up to the top.”
Now, they’re close to sprouting, she said.
“We always had to have the mindset (that) we’re a live-performance venue in a time when people are not allowed to gather,” she said. “How do we open safely, efficiently, cost-effectively?”
They’ve been experimenting by inviting artists to film in the building with a small number of guests in the audience, to get an idea of how patrons move around the building.
“We’re seeing … if the procedures that we’ve put in place actually work, and if they don’t, we can tweak them,” Mullett said.
From Dec. 20-23, a production of “Penning the Carol,” written and performed by Aiden Flynn, will be staged. It will be the first ticketed performance since March.
“Penning the Carol” is a solo performance that follows Charles Dickens as he dreams up the characters and plot of his classic story, “A Christmas Carol” on a Christmas Eve in 1843.
It has been in production for 18 years, but this is the fourth year it will be at the LSPU Hall.
“I call it the townie holiday classic,” Rousseau said.
Not only is the play a tradition for some people, it’s often a way to fundraise for artistic organizations, such as the CAPE Fund (Cultural Artists Plan for Emergencies), which provides funds to those in the cultural sector who find themselves in an unexpected crisis.
“It’s a perfect and natural choice to bring us back together,” Rousseau said.
To account for social distancing, ticketholders will be given a predetermined and staggered arrival time for their group and be placed in seating depending on the size of their bubble.
Of course, given the restrictions, space is limited.
“The new sold-out for us is 40 to 50 people,” Mullett said.
Flynn says he feels fantastic going into the performance every year, but this year is particularly special for both him and the audience.
“I think we’re both going to enjoy being back in the room together,” he said.
He doesn’t know a lot, he says with a chuckle, but the one thing he knows is that play.
“I gotta tell you, it means a lot for me to do it,” Flynn said. “It’s a wonderful reflection for me annually and I think, in some ways, that’s the impact it has on the audience as well.”
After such a tough year, he said it wouldn’t surprise him if these were emotional evenings for everybody involved.
“Because it’s a small audience, I’m probably going to be able to look everybody in the eye,” he said. “Just the fact that we can all sit together, especially (in a place) as amazing as the LSPU Hall, it’s just going to be a real blessing.”
As for safety measures, Flynn says, “I’m sure people will have a lot of questions about that, (but) the Hall’s got it covered, I know they do.”
Andrew Waterman reports on East Coast culture.
