Back in November, we sent a note to you lovely humans from all of us at The Theatre Centre painted by our friend Christopher Rouleau. It began with “we miss you. we didn’t imagine we would have to close our doors to our community for so, so long. we wish we could all be here together again…”

Eight months later, with the dropping Covid-19 case-counts, we thought we could begin counting down to the day we would welcome artists into our space again. But, as it stands, with the recently announced Roadmap to Reopening the Ontario government is, by intent or oversight, indisputably keeping performing arts venues in the Stay-at-Home order until July or longer.

We need your help.

In the coming days and weeks, Ontario’s senior officials will meet to determine the specific regulatory details of the Roadmap to Reopen, including the offices of Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Williams, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, and public health officials. The decisions and changes made in the next few days will determine the fate of our stages for the next year. If we are treated like other entertainment, hospitality, and sports sectors, we can look forward to a summer of outdoor performance and a robust theatre season next year. But if we aren’t given similar reopening guidelines, our stages will remain dark and our artists will remain out of work.