Inspiration from Your Board (Not Bored) Members: AKA How THEY are spending their time
Well, we are now entering month three of our lockdown due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. We hope that this blog finds you the reader, your family and your loved ones, in good health. Slowly the world, and Ottawa in particular seem, to be reopening. What this means for the OLT and our re-opening date still is to be determined. Please rest assured that your Board of Directors is meeting on a regular basis, developing and redeveloping potential plans as the situation evolves, with the best interest at heart of both the theatre and all its patrons.
Looking back in history, a different type of plague led to the closure of theatres in London England. In late July 1606, in the midst of a theatrical season that included what may well be the finest group of new plays ever staged – Shakespeare’s King Lear and Macbeth, Ben Jonson’s Volpone, and Thomas Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy – Shakespeare’s company, the King’s Men, lowered their flag at the Globe theatre and locked their playhouse doors. However, months later the theatre reopened and as everyone knows, the Bard of Avon’s accomplishments and his work went down in history.
The first live theatre play was performed in the Theatre of Dionysus in the 6th century B.C which was 2620 years or 31,400 months ago. The Ottawa Little Theatre has been around for 107 years or 1, 284 months. All that being said, 3 months is only a small moment in time. We will prevail and be up and running one day (hopefully) soon.
We’ve reached out to the members of our Board of Director to find out how they are faring during the time of the pandemic and here are some of their responses in their own words.
Brian Cano: I have filled my empty calendar with Zoom meetings with groups in Ottawa and across the continent (and beyond). The house has never been cleaner and my gardening is getting done very early this year. I am practicing my guitar which is important as I don’t have weekly church choir to keep me playing. I hope to post a song or two to Facebook in the near future. I am also learning how to play the piano. My daughter had to move from teaching lessons at people’s houses to teaching online so I asked her to take me on as well. I have tried to go for regular walks as the pools are closed and I can’t do my regular swim workouts. I have been enjoying watching theatre performances on YouTube from Stratford, National Theatre and the Globe Theatre in London and also on PBS. There are some great performances out there! Hope to see people back at the theatre as soon as it is safe.
Geoff Gruson:
I hug Venetia often every day, I run/bike with Joe (pictured) twice each day, I try to spend a few hours online or onsite at the theatre cleaning, improving admin and staring fondly at the set for “BURN,” and I try not to dwell on how much I miss the great people who work and volunteer time in our wonderful community of theatre. Apparently the old adage “absence makes the heart grow fonder” has some truth to it – who knew?
Paul Hession:
Coping with the pandemic is pretty much a full-time job. Since the snow melted, I’ve been trying to cycle every day (in good weather) along the Ottawa River (the photo attached is from a previous summer). I even got two games of golf in this week – all in the hopes of keeping body weight under control. The rest of the time is spent on various community volunteer activities, including ongoing research into the long term needs for the OLT’s accommodation. Like many other OLT volunteers, ZOOM meetings have become a regular pastime. “Re-opening” our 2019/20 season can’t come soon enough!
Albert Lightstone:
Every day, I walk Mr. Pickles (pictured here with Albert) by the theatre checking out the grand old building from the outside just to make sure she is not too lonely while anxiously waiting for her to reopen. I am working from home as that government never closes, and have almost finished watching all of Netflix (up to the letter “t”). Lots of reading, eating, building LEGO sets, eating, Zoom conferencing, eating and time-wasting surfing the net. Did I mention eating? I taught my dog to play pinball. Alas, if he gets too excited, he wags his tale and tilts the machine.
Chris Ralph:
I spent the first month of quarantine teaching my Algonquin College acting students on Zoom rather than in a studio! Surprisingly it went okay – though I do feel badly for my students who were just about to head into their year-end shows. These days, as I wait for work to start again, I have been doing a lot of cooking, reading, watching streaming and listening to some great podcasts. And if you haven’t heard, there is a lot of wonderful theatre online to watch these days. Just check out the National Theatre Live website for details about upcoming performances online. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Our own Stratford Festival is also streaming past productions online. You can see what’s coming up here www.stratfordfestival.ca. Please stay safe and hang in there everyone and I look forward to seeing you as soon as possible at the theatre!