ETC Response to COVID-19
The current global pandemic has forced our theatre to go dark for an unknown period of time. I can tell you that this pandemic has been an especially emotional experience for us as we were in the midst of a comeback this year. Countless hours of hard work have been poured into the productions we had planned, building our conservatory, our writers’ program, and our attempts to build and strengthen our ties here in our community and fundraising.
We had gone from being nearly bankrupt to reaching what we had thought was seemingly stable. Our team had found a new sense of enthusiasm, and things felt like they were progressing in the right direction.
So far, the virus has forced us to cancel the last four performances of Wit, our Storyteller event, our Poetry Slam, two open mic nights, and pushed our production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile into the 2021 Season.
This has dealt a terrible financial blow to a theatre that desperately needed a win.
We are hopeful that we will be receiving a grant in the coming weeks that will breathe additional life into our theatre. We have also made some drastic cuts to upcoming production budgets and are hoping that it will be enough for us to make it through this.
As the Artistic Director, I will own the first few weeks of this pandemic as it was a struggle to focus on the theater. Now, as we have started to adjust to this new way of living, we are working on adapting The Elite to the prospects available in the digital medium. It is my hope that we can bring entertaining streaming content to our community in this new “socially distant” world. It is our hope that you will join us as we navigate these unprecedented changes. There will likely be hiccups along the way and your patience and enthusiastic support will help us get through this together.
In theatre we have a tradition – whenever the theater is empty we are always sure to leave one light on. Typically on a stand in the center of the stage, this light is known as the ghost light.
There are many stories about its origin- but it’s meaning is unmistakable.
It means though the theatre is empty, WE WILL RETURN. So here’s to us. The actors, the technicians, the directors, the carpenters, the designers, the dancers, the teachers, the students, the freelancers, those on tour, those at seas, the electricians, the stitchers, the makers, the stage managers…THE ARTISTS.
Many of us have taken big hits during this virus. Financial and emotional weights have come crashing down as our entire industry is reduced to nothing but a bunch of ghost lights. But those ghost lights are temporary place holders. They are a sign. We might be down now- but our passion, our creativity, our drive is still center stage. We’ll be unplugging those ghost lights in no time. Until then – here’s a ghost light to let the world know we will be back.