Dear Friends of the Classic Theatre Festival,
It is with a sense of sad irony that our board of directors met via Skype on World Theatre Day – March 27 – and decided that, given the COVID-19 pandemic, we were left with no option but to postpone the 2020 season of the Classic Theatre Festival.
While this is heartbreaking for all of us – the producers, directors, stage managers, designers, performers, technicians, summer students, volunteers, the billet hosts, and, of course, you, our wonderful guests – we believe that this is the safest decision, in light of the uncertainty of the current situation.
As we stay home for the foreseeable future – and encourage you to do the same – we will cherish the wonderful memories of our first decade together in Perth. What began as our dream of running a summer theatre became a reality thanks to your loyal support and enthusiastic attendance. We are honoured to have you as part of the Classic Theatre Festival family.
What this means going forward
Since we have already invested significant resources into our 2020 shows – for casting, design, production, royalties – and also because we treasure the shows we had planned (Affairs of State, The Philanderer, and Sleuth), we have decided that the shows for 2020 will simply be moved ahead to the summer of 2021. By that time, we hope that the current crisis is a distant bad memory, yet one from which we have all learned important lessons about the need to care for one another on this fragile planet.
If you already hold tickets for the 2020 season, here are your current options:
1. Transfer your tickets forward: we will honour any tickets purchased for 2020 in 2021. The same three shows planned for this summer – Affairs of State, The Philanderer, and Sleuth – will hit the boards in 2021. As always, we are flexible in allowing you to pick your dates and seats whenever you like. This option would be hugely helpful to us as we handle the cash flow challenges of operating without a full season.
2. Alternatively, if you don’t want to transfer your tickets – and you are able to do so – you can donate all or part of your 2020 season ticket purchase in return for a charitable tax receipt. This would greatly help us to offset some of the fixed costs we face whether the Festival is running or not.
3. You can receive a refund for your 2020 tickets. (Please note that the refund cannot include the $4 + HST ticketing fee that supports our box office outlet, Tickets Please).
Simply email us at info@classictheatre.ca and copy tickets@ticketsplease.ca and tell us how you would like to proceed, and we will handle things from our end.
We recognize the unprecedented nature of the crisis we are facing, and hope that the promise of once again sharing the magic of live theatre and the wonderful stories that shape our lives is one piece of what you need to get through these challenging times.
We look forward to seeing you in 2021. Until then, take care of yourselves, and please let us know if you have any questions.
Best wishes,
Laurel Smith, Artistic Producer
Matthew Behrens, Associate Producer
We so look forward to seeing you again in 2021, and thank you again for your support!
