The Souris Valley Theatre has been forced to cancel its 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The theatre was scheduled to have Ranchers and Rustlers 2 for a main-stage show from July 6-24. The sequel to last year’s main stage show, Ranchers and Rustlers, the sequel had been performed in Estevan before, but not in many years.
Board president Robert Godfrey said it’s tough to cancel after the momentum generated from last year’s theatre season.
“We had such a fantastic year last year. We had the best numbers we’ve seen since before our shutdown from the flooding (of the Souris River) in 2011,” said Godfrey.
They were ahead of schedule in planning for 2020, and had some cast and a great crew lined up for the show.
But given the uncertainty of COVID-19, they can’t plan for the upcoming year. Their crowd sizes would exceed the number allowed under restrictions, and the intimate setting would violate social distancing.
They also have to be able to provide advanced notice to the performers about the cancellation.
“They’re professionals and they work tight schedules. Although they’re schedules have obviously seen a lot of change, we work with people that work in film and TV, that is still seeing some work right now,” said Godfrey.
The theatre was hoping to have a couple short-term shows as well, but nothing had been confirmed. COVID-19 struck when they were looking at short-term bookings.
Godfrey didn’t rule out the possibility of having a couple of short-run shows later this year if the situation improves.
It’s also tough to not have their children’s camps this year, because those have proven popular.
They will use this summer to do some repairs and renovations to Frehlick Hall, which is now nearly 20 years old.
Next week’s edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
