Shakespeare said “All the world’s a stage,” so where are all the stages in Ottawa?
The city is bursting with talent, but local theatre groups complain there just isn’t the performance space.
The problem is twofold: finding space is hard and finding affordable space is even harder. It’s a serious problem for the arts community, illustrated recently by the cancellation of Lunchbox Theatre’s season.
The theatre group offered noon-hour performances at Universe City Lounge at 145 Besserer Street, but couldn’t afford to pay for the performance space after the rent was tripled.
A solution to these problems seemed to have appeared, but municipal politicians have brushed it aside.
When the former home of the Great Canadian Theatre Company goes on sale in 2006, there will be a theatre with 230 seats and box office waiting to be used.
The city of Ottawa had put the purchase of the building on the draft budget . However, despite pleas from the arts community, council voted against it this week.
Ottawa had an excellent opportunity to show its support for the arts by providing much-needed space for theatre companies. But the city has failed to do so.
The city could have bought the GCTC building at 910 Gladstone without taking on the responsibility of running it.
It would have been easy for arts groups to take over the theatre’s operation. Ottawa’s Arts Court is a successful model of this type of partnership.
The building that houses the Arts Court was once the Carleton County Courthouse. In 1985, the city entered into a partnership with the Ottawa Arts Court Foundation to create a municipal arts centre.
The city currently acts as a landlord and leases space to organizations, while the Ottawa Arts Court Foundation operates the actual theatre.
Donna Williams, the interim executive director at the Arts Court, says this is a very successful model, and one the city could have considered if they’d purchased the GCTC’s old home.
“The city hasn’t kept pace with all the groups who need room to perform,” she says.
And the Arts Court is a prime example.
Williams says their space is so in demand that performers and theatre groups have to book space a year in advance.
But building new theatres isn’t necessarily the solution: it’s not just a case of if you build it they will come.
Sam Al-Saber, artistic director of Vision Theatre, an Ottawa theatre company formed in 2000, says it’s important for groups to work in a well-known venue, one that has a stable fan base.
And for most groups, building their own theatre is not an option. To get the money to build one, they would need to show they could maintain it financially. And to get those funds, groups need a theatre to build up their audience.
The GCTC building could have easily solved both of these problems: it is already built and a well-established fixture within the community.
Plus, the city has had success with its theatre ventures. In addition to the Arts Court, Ottawa also owns and operates Centrepointe Theatre, another popular venue in the city.
But still, the arts community is in desperate need of space.
Ottawa shows its support for the arts by providing funding to various organizations, including over $900,000 in grants to tenants in the Arts Court.
At Centrepointe Theatre the city offers a 50 per cent discount to local groups who want to rent performance space.
With the purchase of the GCTC building, Ottawa could have helped even more artists by providing solutions to two pressing problems: space and cheap space.
The answer was there; council really dropped the ball this time.