British Columbia Community Arts Groups Return to Live Performances

British Columbia community arts groups are beginning to return to live events this fall, working to adhere to the safety guidelines, CBC reports.

The Frank Venables Theatre is launching a new local artists series, in which performers will showcase their talents in a nearly-empty auditorium.

"We will have 50 people in our 400-seat theatre, so it will be a socially distanced, intimate evening of art," said theatre manager Leah Foreman. "We knew that artists in the area were struggling with less work, so we wanted to do something for them as well as revitalize theatre and do something with our space in a safe way."

Sidney's Mary Winspear Theatre is also working on booking musicians for a four-night engagement so they are able to reach a larger audience while still adhering to the 50-person maximum rules.

In addition, Courtenay's Sid Williams Theatre will launch a "hybrid season", featuring livestreamed events that are performed on stage for a paying audience.

The Prince George Symphony Orchestra will scale back its full orchestra to a smaller chamber series of two to five performers for its upcoming season. Four performances will be conducted over the course of a weekend, allowing for a total of 200 audience members.

The leaders of these organizations don't expect to make much money off of these events, however.

"We're not doing this project to make a profit," Foreman said. "We're doing this to support the community and entertain some people."

Read more on CBC.

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