Editorial: Summer Theater Kicked To The Curb
By John Swartz
Orillia has a reputation for creating art. Musically, poetically, visually and theatrically. Great strides were made during the first ten years of this century, until 2012 when the culture department (we were one of the first municipalities to have one) was disbanded and shuffled off to parks and rec, and then to economic development.
Municipal support morally, philosophically and financially created something special. The main food groups that make up the cultural landscape (Mariposa Arts, the Concert Band, the Silver Band, Cellar Singers, Mariposa Folk, etc.) figured out there was something to be gained by working together and coordinating with each other, rather than acting as islands of interest and influence in a sea of competitors. A lot of it had to do with the glue at the centre, a dynamic culture department at City Hall, one that advocated at council, one that brought people together to figure out how to make things better.
The disbandment in 2012 left a gaping hole. Advancement has slowed down. The clearinghouse nature has resulted in too many things happening at the same time and some weekends being devoid of activity. There is no cohesive vision and if feels like everyone is acting unilaterally and without consideration or in league with the other groups.
As an example, it doesn’t help when the forgetfulness of council of the original reason for creating a pool of grant money for the arts gets diluted by staff who have no better answer for other groups asking for financial help and change how the fund is viewed and used.
It doesn’t help when staff depart for other communities, leaving work and momentum flapping in the wind and their replacements don’t even bother to check the temperature of the pool they are jumping into before working on what their superiors tell them to work on, rather than finding out what the community needs.
It doesn’t help when the top decision makers, bureaucrats, not council, act unilaterally and drop little bombs on everyone as surprise or sneak attacks. It doesn’t help when those who know arts and culture are left scratching their heads trying to comprehend what just happened.
A case in point, we no longer have a summer theater program at the Opera House. Within the last two weeks those familiar with the theatrical community learned our homegrown summer theater program is no more. No longer will plays be produced. No longer will premiers of plays by some of Canada’s best playwrights see the light of day for the first time at the Opera House. The production staff has scattered and will not come together again. Our great reputation in the theatrical community is dust in the wind.
The plays created here in Orillia were shopped and sold to other theaters in Ontario, making money for the City of Orillia, won’t be produced.
For what? For plan that is based on a numbers oriented pipe dream, made with no understanding of artistic endeavouor, execution, or what audiences want.
Since the pandemic, the people that ran the summer theater program built on momentum they established and had near sellout seasons. Their expertise resulted in 5 world premiers of plays by Norm Foster and John Spurway. Here’s a tidbit of information, theater companies don’t pick new works by established and award winning playwrights to premier, the playwrights do; they are not willing to risk new works to a less than stellar company – and we had 5 new works premier here.
I can’t comment specifically on the programs of 2024 and 2025 because in City Hall’s infinite wisdom I am not qualified enough to be blessed with tickets to review plays. I did not see any of the plays for those two seasons. Instead they paid for reviews by someone who I can’t determine has any qualifications and who’s reviews read more like Cole’s Note rundowns of scripts than reviews of performances. And I still have not received one phone call, one email, any correspondence answering to a letter to council about this whole goofy affair.
I emailed Michael Ladouceur, who runs the economic office and the culture file asking for rationale for giving up this thing so many people worked so hard to make something of in favour of buying plays to present as summer theater.
His response led with asking to not write about this until he had a chance to inform council through the weekly information package of this done deal. That’s right, council does not know of this major change. Council did not discuss this, or have a chance weigh the merit, or to make a decision about the direction of summer theater. Once again staff is calling the shots instead of council.
Staff has been trying to turn the tables on what constitutes a news story and the content of those stories. This story was already in motion and I simply asked for comment to include ‘the other side’, not for editorial control. It’s not unusual for newsmakers to release information to the press under embargoed to allow for journalists to their jobs and flesh out contrary positions, get interviews done or lined up, get graphics and photos sourced, etc. and be ready for publication in tandem with other news organizations. This is not the case here.
“If possible, would you mind waiting until then for your story?” is not an embargo. Participation in the story in this case is voluntary and does not stop the story, or radically change the story.
Ladouceur went on to provide some information. Let’s just say, an argument that changing from a production house to a buying house, and simultaneously moving the venue from the smaller Shilling Theatre (they don’t even call it that anymore) to the larger Lightfoot Auditorium because – look at all the seats we can sell – demonstrates how little thought went into this.
There is negligible cost savings. Sure there will be one less salary to pay for the artistic director, and some savings on set design and construction and costuming, by buying someone else’s work instead of making your own. Balanced against what will surely be increased advertising and the fact that most of the costs of production will still have to be paid, it is worth saying, at least that wasn’t the hat this decision was hung on.
No, drooling over being able to possibly sell 4 times as many tickets, and book more than 3 plays per summer (while at the same time saying there will be fewer performances – and all that delicious revenue doe not approach the ‘if we build it, they will come’ scenario.
It took the discarded team 4 years to develop and grow an audience with steady improvement in production element qualities (increased budgets) and attracting an audience that would come just because they knew whatever they were going to see would be done well – better than others – and would be worth the price of a ticket.
Just two weeks ago the Toronto Star published a story reporting a Canadian Chamber of Commerce study showed every dollar the government invests in the arts generates $29 in economic activity. In light of my own issues about perception of qualifications, I wonder if the previous sentence would be viewed as qualified at City Hall.
The key thing to understand is art equals creation, not buying. This change in programming turns the City into buyers instead of creators. Audiences will notice.
Will the additional spending materialize from this change. Back in the day, The Sunshine Festival did a survey and found their patrons spent $1.5 million in the city in addition to the cost of tickets to see plays.
Why on earth would anyone travel to Orillia (a significant part of summer theater audiences were visitors to Orillia, who ate here and often stayed at least overnight (i.e. they spent money beyond the ticket price) when they can see the exact same play, with the same sets and costumes worn by the same actors in a theater in their towns? They won’t come here.
Does anyone remember the buses lined up on West Street during the summer. Those buses brought full loads of people to Orillia just to see a Sunshine Festival play. There were often 7 busloads of people travelling to here, sometimes more. The Sunshine Festival was partially responsible for creating a summer theater tour culture other theaters and buslines capitalized on. Those still exist to take people to the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival and major productions in Toronto, but try and find one to other theaters otherwise.
So where’s the plan to re-create the stream of visitors coming here to see a play? What tour operators are lined up to make this drastic move work?
Another thing not considered is The City no longer has control over what is offered. They are now going to shop from a menu. You know how that works when trying out a restaurant under new management. There is no way to tell which items are dogs until they are served. I doubt there will be the same kind of consideration picking plays to present as the discarded crew did. The direction of summer theater was in place since 2015. The team needed a few years to tune the program into a summer full of hit productions. They developed a science to putting a season together, one that resulted in 4 seasons in a row of capacity audiences. The City is walking away from quality control.
Let’s not forget this team re-opened after the pandemic first in all of Canada. They figured out how to do theatre in a different environment before anyone else. This is the kind of creativity we just chucked to the curb.
Who knows if this will work? Certainly I won’t because they don’t want me to see what is being offered. I doubt we’ll know the true result. It used to be the Opera House balance sheet was published with the annual municipal budget, but City Hall stopped doing that several years ago. One could figure out from expense and income how summer theater was doing.
Council, how long are you going to let staff lead you around? When are you going to have had enough of being presented done deals without any warning or chance to be involved in the direction of program changes in culture or any other department? You are the oversight, not the backwards glance.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Images Supplied)
