The Artistic Director at the Western Canada Theatre is hoping that when COVID-19 restrictions are eased, the arts sector isn’t left behind again.
James MacDonald says they have been supportive of the public health measures that have been in place now for the past year. However, he tells NL News he is hoping that arts facilities will be able to host small in-person events when things are safe again – instead of being told to stay closed.
“We’re a fully professional organization as is the Kamloops Film Society and we’re extremely concerned about our patrons when it comes to their safety and we have full confidence that everybody at the KFS as well as us have gone to the lengths of keeping everybody safe,” MacDonald said.
“We would never ever want to put anybody at risk if they come to our space.”
Prior to additional restrictions being brought in on March 29, businesses like movie theatres were told stay closed, while restaurants were able to keep operating though with limited capacities. An exception was the Rio Theatre in Vancouver, though it was operating as a sports bar.
“Literally we were having six people in a theatre for 500 or two people when we were doing the date night private bookings but we’re not allowed to do those,” Film Society Executive Director, Dusan Magdolen, previously told NL News. “I know restaurants have been hit hard as well, but there does seem to be a weird gap there that seems to be a little bit attacking the arts, if I’m being honest.”
“The arts sector sort of goes, ‘oh you’re not even allowing us to do the little bit that we can.’ It doesn’t make any sense to me why a theatre of 500 can’t have even ten people in there, but restaurants can basically be full as long as the tables are distanced apart.”
MacDonald says the people in the arts sector around the province have been lobbying the government to try and explain the situation they’ve been in for the past year. He is hoping officials take a closer look at things in the future when the COVID-19 case count has stabilized.
“You know whether that’s something that changes in the next couple of weeks or over the next couple of months or even just in the long term re-framing professional arts organizations with the work that we do to keep our audiences safe and with the protocols that we put in place,” he said.
“One of the best things about theatre is the mental health benefit and the opportunity for us to gather. And so whether that’s with 10 people, 20 people, 50 people when it’s safe, or 700 people when its fully safe, that’s a goal that we will always strive for.”
B.C. today reported 3,289 new COVID-19 cases over the past weekend, 299 of which were in Interior Health.
The restrictions on dining, social gatherings, and fitness activities are set to expire a week from today, on April 19, though it’s unclear at this time if it will be extended again.
