The arts have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic including Kamloops own Western Canada Theatre.

Artistic Director James MacDonald was on the NL Morning News and said after years of running in deficit, and despite the Sagebrush Theatre being closed for much of last year, the organization was finally in the black… then the pandemic hit.

“I won’t lie to you, there will be a big financial hit for us this year which is why we’re looking at next year with some caution to say you know we have to see where we’re at this year before we do anything fiscally imprudent for next year and obviously we’re trying to serve our audience and produce some great work but also be aware of that,” he said.

MacDonald says WCT gets funding its from all levels of government and things like the wage subsidy have kept some employees on the payroll the but it’s also the generosity of Kamloopsians that have kept them going.

“We also really do rely on the support of our community,” he noted. “We’ve had about $20,000 in donations since this started from the community. We do appreciate it and we will ask for more because we are a not for profit charity that really does rely on that support.”

“[Kamloops has] been good to us so far and we’ll be doing a campaign to let people know about our needs coming up in June as well.”

For now, WCT will be streaming its performances live on their website and Facebook. MacDonald says they also have things like theatre sports videos that parents can play with their kids.