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Theatre Orangeville’s Artistic Director shares what’s new

January 21, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

“The lessons that have been learned, that we can and will be creative despite adversity – still be vibrant – are examples of all of our being adaptive, in order to remain vital and creative,” said Theatre Orangeville Artistic Director David Nairn, who was in a reflective mood, a legacy of the click into a new year.

He said, “I’ve learned that there are many more stories to be told that involve creativity and inclusion – we’ll continue to unveil more of those stories.”

Times and attitudes are moving quickly and theatre philosophies are moving with them: how to stay vibrant, regardless of restrictions to the norm, as a theatre and a part of the community; to keep patrons, who are starved for theatre experience, involved and happy to see people on their stage, if only virtually: that’s one part of it.

The second is that – finally – in history, diversity and inclusion come on to the main stage – in society and into the theatre.

“We have 12 people on the Board of Directors,” Mr. Nairn told the Citizen. “Only two of which have been with the Board for more than 3 years. So, there are fresh faces – Indigenous, Black, Queer – a real diversity to truly represent our community. These times have encouraged us to get out in front to deliver these stories.”

What makes David Nairn, as Artistic Director of Theatre Orangeville, so happy in addition, is that the theatre has been able to keep all the creative staff and because they have been able to keep paying this bill, no one was lost. The last year has been a lesson on how they created and what they created.

Yet, he thinks 2022 will be another road to learn and expand what they, as a team, have learned so far. Over the last 18 months, Theatre Orangeville (TOV) has produced 17 shows, travelling the steep learning curve on the technology needed to produce excellent virtual entertainment. The creative team has been busy and flexible by how they organized the staging of artists and musicians to both cover attractive presentations of each and abide by all the protocols.

He was emphatic: “Certainly since Covid started, I didn’t want to lose my people; didn’t want [to] look them in the eye and say ‘we can’t keep you.’ I’m very proud of that. Now we’re bringing back our part time [staff] slowly and surely. It’s inspired us to move forward.”

There are a lot of theatres that have really struggled, we noted but Theatre Orangeville has continued to develop new work and there has been no loss of any of the theatre’s vital programs.

They were able to offer summer camps for children, do productions with Young Company, Theatre Orangeville Exceptional Players (T.O.E.P.) and more.

Next fall, we were promised, there will be more of it live and in theatre [fingers crossed].

Perhaps, a somewhat unexpected perk to all the effort that the pandemic created is the expansion of Theatre Orangeville’s audience. All the digital innovations leading to truly excellent virtual entertainment have been enjoyed across Canada and it is clear that this new aspect of TOV productions is here to stay. There are still people who are reluctant to attend a crowded theatre, who may never return, but still want to see the shows. They will never be disappointed.

“We’ll keep the online audience,” he assured us. Adding, “people are watching us even in Europe, people who never heard of [the Town of] Orangeville know about it now.”

Partnerships have long since been a part of TOV’s involvement in the community. During the pandemic, partnerships have been an important part of TOV’s life. They partnered with Family Transition Place (FTP) to help with fund raising and Celebrate Your Awesome. 

Mr. Nairn explained, “They tried to stage a show last year but they came to us for help and we said, ‘Of course.’ And produced a world class drag show. It’s not only what we’ve done, but to partner with other organizations.”

Nothing will ever replace the live show but the theatre is gathering online while they have to. The challenge is not to be slaves but masters of technology. To use it wisely, while endeavouring to master how to reach out and the plans are to continue to be live, whether outdoors or safely in-theatre.

A new excitement is they are working on live streaming for the plays and shows to on-time at home. In other words, attending the live streaming at home is scheduled like going to the theatre. Be on time: if you are late, you will miss that much of the show.

He told us, “We will be live on stage for the remainder of the season until June, when we’ll be announcing the plans for the rest of the summer, fall, winter and the spring of 2023.”

The theatre’s annual school tour, Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) is on again, using a brand new script, written by alumni from Young Company. This year, TYA will be touring virtually even if the students are in classrooms. The show will be created to go into the schools in May and June. It will be directed by another one of the alumni who has been through all of the seasons for Young Company.

With real gratitude and appreciation, Mr. Nairn informed us, “None of our sponsors stepped away from us, even businesses that are struggling. The community that I live in has really banded together to support the community. That’s second to none.”

His comment: “There’s been some really great mentoring in this community; mentoring works both ways.”

For his own part, David Nairn remarked, “I’ve learned more in the last 20 months about my craft and my artist practice and the discipline of theatre than in the rest of my years in theatre combined. My personal growth as an artist – I’ve been excited and challenged.”


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