Feature: THEATRE FROM A DISTANCE with SIDENOTE THEATRE

Continuing our weekly exploration of Calgary's vast theatre industry and their various responses to the shutdown of live theatre (whose return is still some months away), I spoke with the Artistic Director of one of the city's newest theatres, to see how they stayed afloat after barely leaving port.

Stefanie Barnfather is the Artistic Director and Co-Creator of SideNote Theatre, a company comparatively still in its infancy but quickly garnering attention. She is a creator and educator based in Calgary with a strong passion for empowering emerging artists. Since opening their doors in October 2019, SideNotes's mandate is centered around creating, workshopping and producing original plays and musicals in a collaborative and thought-provoking manner.

Their first expected production was to be 'Frog Prince: The Musical', which began readings in 2019.

"We had only held one in-person workshop prior to the COVID-19 shutdown so we were able to pivot to the virtual platform relatively quickly," Barnfather told me. "but we had to cancel several plans for in-person performances that were coming up that summer."

Following a short number of elevated public readings of the new musical in January 2020, the company was forced to turn their attention towards social media in order to maintain their creative expression.

"Many of us had never worked with video editing or streaming software before, but we all did our best to rapidly get up to speed by working with trusted experts, viewing all of the products other local and national companies were releasing, and doing a LOT of trial and error.

In March 2020, Barnfather and her Co-Founder Charlotte Nixon launched 'Sunday Sharing Sessions', a 10 Week audience submitted cabaret of local artists sharing songs, dances, and other talents.

In June 2020, they collaborated with DIY Theatre to produce 'Moon Legends', an adaptation of Greek Mythology surrounding love, loss, and inner truth.

"We learned so much together by working on that first virtual show and much of what we experienced helped shape SideNote's company practices over the past year. Kaleigh Richards (Director) and Shelby Reinitz (Producer) were wonderful and innovative collaborators, and we all took risks together that pushed the boundaries of what our companies could achieve."

However, not everything was smooth sailing for the company which had yet to pass their one-year mark.

"Having something artistic to keep us going was a huge driving force for staying positive when things were bleakest." Said Barnfather. "But at the end of June there were so many additional challenges facing all of us that the original SideNote team split apart (one received a large promotion at work, one left to pursue other passions, and one reduced their role/responsibilities in order to have a healthier work/life balance) and I ended up taking sole ownership of the company."

The Artistic Director explained that having such a large online presence allowed her to reach out to the community and find other team members who could support the company. "The new teams that are now in place have had definite ups and downs over the last year, but a few key members have done our best to hold each other up when we needed to by staying true to SideNote's core values of kindness and compassion. Most of us felt safe talking about our emotional health at SideNote because we did our best to leave judgement out of the work space by listening and validating what everyone was experiencing."

Indeed, Barnfather emphasized that openness and honesty were of the utmost importance when creating a virtual space of artists and designers.

"We believe that structure and organization are the backbone in establishing consistent practices of respect and accountability within a professional environment, but we couple that with flexibility for human needs: play time to honour the human spirit, and transparency to remove any barriers for long term trust within our consistent leadership teams." She also confided that two specific members of the company made significant sacrifices in order to get the company on its feet. That display of hard work, availability and support, helped to inspire others to follow suit. "Our artists and designers have craved stability and artistic opportunity over the last year, and SideNote has tried to provide that."

For a company barely beginning, it is impossible to tell what directions SideNote could have taken had they not been restricted to virtual performances. But that has not stopped them from making the most of their situation, and reaching out to the community at large.

"We raised $450 for YWCalgary with our SideNote holiday toque campaign and we created our free virtual 'Read Along with SideNote' series for Calgary Reads, which we also shared with the YWCA community and a few school boards, nationwide. The read along series was entirely facilitated by a team of volunteer actors, educators, and video editors who believed in the importance of creating accessible, high quality theatrical content to help positively contribute to the healthy development of our society.

"We also had unexpected support over social media from The Vendor Collective, The Youth Singers, Lunchbox Theatre, Loop Consulting, SingSanaYYC, CNDTheatre, AvidDiva Music, Calgary Reads, and Evergreen Community Spaces. Our mutual friendship with Britannia Wine Merchants has remained strong and we've been able to collaborate with other local small business merchants. Plus, a HUGE shoutout goes to Calgary Arts Development and the City of Calgary for granting us with project funding under SideNote's banner to write 'Scattered'. None of these relationships existed prior to 2020, so we're pretty grateful for them all."

While live performances produced with an audience may seem at least a few months away, SideNote is always looking towards the future.

"We continue to work over Zoom and to find ways to grow the virtual performance medium. 'Scattered' will be releasing a Radio Play version of the show and 'Superheroes' will have a virtual run of the film on SideNote's streaming service this June and July.

"[Eventually,] we would like to follow a mixed production type, which is to have a two-week live run followed by a four-week virtual run on our streaming platform." Barnfather emphasized SideNote's commitment to collaboration. "Creators bring us their ideas, we workshop them, we rehearse, we film, and then we present.

"When you come to our shows, you are an important part of the live experience so we want to continue to bring you in, instead of having you sit in an audience and just 'view'. We want to bring the diversity of our audience's experiences on to the stage and into the theatrical world we've created."

Above all, Barnfather told me that SideNote aims to promote an environment of authenticity, accessibility, inclusivity, and safety. "Making our team, cast and audience's emotional, physical, intellectual, social and spiritual selves a priority in the work we create, the spaces we rehearse in, and the world we share with the public."

'Scattered' is set to begin performances on May 14 2021. For more details on where and how to view this show. Visit sidenotetheatre.com/tickets

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