EMILY HSUEH
PONTIAC July 29, 2020
In the words of the band Queen:
“Empty spaces, what are we living for?
Abandoned places, I guess we know the score, on and on
Does anybody know what we are looking for?
The show must go on.”
But not without proper precautions, of course. That’s the mindset the Pontiac Community Players (PCP) have about their upcoming . . .
summer production, which they plan annually. The troupe will be performing four shows of Out of Order, a British farce, from August 26-29.
As the world continues to re-open, the theatre group would not be left behind. Though there were concerns at the start of the pandemic, the group monitored the news and made changes accordingly.
“We didn’t know if we were going to do it at all,” said Greg Graham, president of the PCP and actor in the show. “We only started planning when we heard that Quebec was allowing 50 people inside for some events.”
As a result, the PCP will only be selling 40 tickets per show. Under normal circumstances, the venue – Coronation Hall in Bristol – would seat 120, but the majority of those seats will remain empty to ensure that the audience can still be two metres apart.
Despite the significant reduction in attendance, the cast and crew aren’t phased.
“We don’t do it for the big crowds, we don’t do it for the money, we do it for the sheer love of doing it. So we’re not too concerned with how many people we can get in.”
Upon arriving at the venue, patrons will be required to clean their hands with sanitizer and wear a face mask. The group will continue to watch the news and adjust their production as necessary.
“If anything changes between now and August, that’s fine, we’ll change again. But right now that’s the plan. So it’ll be a much smaller crowd, but I think it’ll still be a lot of fun. And I think a lot of people are staying home anyway so it’ll work out just fine.”
Precautions are taking place behind the scenes as well.
During rehearsals, they do their best to remain socially distant, and even work around the script to maintain the distance. They get together twice a week and consider each other in their social bubble.
Graham encourages anyone who would like to purchase tickets to the show to contact him at 819-647-2547 or email at pontiaccommunityplayers@gmail.com.
“If everybody is undertaking normal precautions, it’s fine and we should all have a wonderful evening,” he said. “It’s going to be a hilarious show, it’s one of the funniest we’ve done, we’ve got a helluva cast, it’s all local, always has been. It’s people who do this out of the joy of their hearts.”
