Ron’s last year as AD | autumn 2020 and beyond
Dear friends,
Back in early March, I was preparing to unveil a very special season I had carefully planned with the rest of our artists and advisors here at Pacific Theatre. Then we closed Best Of Enemies in the middle of its run, the Arts Club-sponsored tour of Kim’s Convenience came to an abrupt halt, and we cancelled Love/Sick and The Trip To Bountiful, the remaining shows in our season. And, we entered into the uncertainty of when the doors can reopen, and what a new season might look like.
We put particular care into preparing for 2020/21, because it will be my long-planned final season as Artistic Director at Pacific Theatre, which I founded in 1984. We began laying the groundwork for “Pacific Theatre Beyond Ron” back in 2011, developing a strategic plan that would pave the way for a strong and seamless succession, while preparing for an eventual transition to a new venue (which is still four to six years in the future). In 2018 we chose June 2021 as my departure date, and the board has been working steadily toward that moment ever since. We have been in communication with some artists who have a long and active involvement with the Pacific Theatre and its unique mandate, and who have expressed interest in the position. The opening is now public: interviews are being scheduled, and an appointment will be announced later in the summer.
I’m also very eager to talk about the possible ideas we have percolating about how we’ll tell Pacific Theatre stories as our province reaches various stages in our progress out of the dramatic shutdown we have experienced so far. Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be sharing the multiple scenarios we’re imagining that can play to our strengths as a lithe and adaptable mid-sized company with abundant resources: our own beautifully equipped theatre space, extraordinary company of artists, enthusiastic and well-established audience, and loyal donors.
Here’s a teaser. In my original plan for my final season, I created a “Lost Season Festival” of play readings in October. A personal passion project: five nights, five scripts that I’ve always wanted to stage at Pacific Theatre, but never found the opportunity. What could be more tailor-made for this time we find ourselves in the middle of! A showcase of favourite PT actors, and the widest variety imaginable of old and brand new stories – that we can produce with very little cost, for as small or large an audience as circumstances will allow.
More than great ideas, PT’s strength is also its people. Recently, we welcomed Brad Tones, who joined us last September as our first ever full-time Director Of Development, and, in April, our new Executive Director, Jennifer Milley – concrete steps toward ensuring that Pacific Theatre has a strong future for the decades to come. Thank you, too, for your ongoing support. Together, we can look forward to the coming months and, indeed, years of creating Theatre That Matters in Vancouver.
Ron Reed
Artistic Director