What really accounts for the overall drop in performing-arts attendance in Canada from pre-pandemic numbers?Getty Images/iStockphoto
Yesterday, on the street here in Toronto, I ran into a Globe reader who is a long-time subscriber to a local theatre company that focuses on new plays – and who was very disappointed by that theatre’s programming last season and again this season.
I was, as always, interested to hear a paying patron’s impressions of shows I had reviewed – especially when they differed from my own. But I was also simply impressed that this individual was about to go see another show at the company in question despite their overall dissatisfaction with the work there two years running.
That type of long-term commitment to an arts institution, through ups and downs, is increasingly rare and kind of moving at a time when, online at least, it seems like everyone is cancelling everything (newspapers, streaming services, human beings) at the drop of a hat. But for some, the theatre-going habit is, in fact, very hard to break.
This encounter made me wonder anew: What really accounts for the overall drop in performing-arts attendance in Canada from pre-pandemic numbers?
While I often hear from audience members who’ve gone to see a show, I almost never hear directly from theatregoers about why they didn’t go see a show.
One of the most fascinating things I learned recently in an interview with Crow’s Theatre artistic director Chris Abraham was that more than 40 people cancelled their tickets to see Dana H. earlier this year after the company moved the production from its own venue in the east end of Toronto to the Factory Theatre in the west end.
It’s exceedingly rare for me to know what specific factor led someone to not go to the theatre – in this case, a change of venue to another one six kilometres away. Though what about that change made people cancel, I can only guess at. Was it the (extra) 25-minute drive through construction, worries about parking closer to the downtown or the lack of reliable and quick cross-city transit? (This factoid also made me wonder how much of Factory’s attendance troubles last fall had nothing to do with their shows, just the location of their theatre.)
I thought I’d use today’s newsletter to collect more data on this point. Are you seeing less or more theatre right now? Is there a show you recently considered seeing but chose not to attend? If so, what was your reason for staying home? I’ve heard many theories from artists and producers about why some audiences choose to do so: the lure of the couch and cheap streaming entertainment, the rising cost of everything else, lingering COVID-19 concerns, altered artistic direction. But I’d love to hear from you what theatre you haven’t seen lately. I’m at knestruck@globeandmail.com.
Dora do-over
Last week, in commenting on the Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations, I expressed surprise that Jani Lauzon’s Prophecy Fog was up for several awards in the independent division despite its recent run at Coal Mine being described by that company as a “remount” of the 2019 production of the same show. (Remounts are typically only reconsidered for the Doras after five years have passed.)
As it turns out, however, the nominations are not surprising after all. When I was able to connect with Lauzon shortly after my newsletter went out, she told me that the Coal Mine version of Prophecy Fog had a significantly changed script and new design elements.
It’s clear in the Dora eligibility handbook that the show, then, was not considered a remount under their rules and completely eligible.
Mea culpa and my apologies to Lauzon. I had asked the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, which runs the Doras, if Prophecy Fog had changed its design and script, but they replied that it was bring reconsidered due to the change in lead producer. I remain glad that the powers that be there intend to update the language on that front.
Here’s Robyn Grant-Moran’s review of this “essential” show.
Three festivals opening this week - in Toronto, Montreal and Halifax
1. The Luminato Festival Toronto kicks off its latest two-week edition on June 5.
Theatregoers will be most enticed by HOME, a piece of magic-infused theatre by the artful American prestidigitator Geoff Sobelle that was previously seen at the Sydney Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival; R.A.V.E., an immersive “rave opera” co-created by and starring a DJ named Me Time and produced by the endlessly inventive Outside the March; and I Am from Reykvajik, a durational performance by Sonia Hughes that sees her build structures in a variety of parks around town.
Age is a Feeling, the latest solo show by Haley McGee, is also considered part of Luminato, even though it opened at Soulpepper last week. Clare McFarlane interviewed her for the Globe last week.
2. The Montreal Fringe Festival hits its stride this week with a wide assortment of plays, musicals and performance oddities in English and French, on through June 16. Where else but a Fringe can you see a solo show with a title like You’re Good For Nothing ... I’ll Milk the Cow Myself? Happy Fringing.
3. The Stages Theatre Festival at Halifax’s Eastern Front Theatre is on from June 5 to 9. This curated festival has a lot of interesting innovative work on its short but meaty playbill. Joe Cobden’s new work-in-progress called Q&A – a post-show talkback for a play the audience hasn’t seen – sounds neat.
Also opening this week
Beehive - The 60s Musical, a jukebox musical organized around songs by female vocalists from that decade and described as a “celebration of female empowerment,” opens at the Drayton Festival Theatre on June 5 (to June 23). Created by Larry Gallagher, this production is directed and choreographed by David Connelly. The cast includes such well-known musical theatre performers as Tiffany Deriveau, Kelly Holiff and Erica Peck, who you may have seen on stage at Soulpepper and the Stratford Festival of late.