On September 10th a fundraiser called Let There Be Light will be held at Rock Bottom Bar and Grill to help The Shadowbox Theatre recover from three years of pandemic-induced debt. This comes just as the Shadowbox nears its fifth anniversary.
We at The Shadowbox Theatre and Post Productions were not aware of this fundraiser at first. It has been organized by two artists we like and respect – Barry T. Brodie and Jaz Morneau – who took it upon themselves to help. When we found out what they were planning we were surprised, grateful, and humbled.
The past three years have been difficult for businesses of all kinds in Windsor-Essex and around the world. The theatre industry, like the larger live entertainment industry, was hit particularly hard. After all, getting people to come together in groups in enclosed spaces to be entertained is our entire business model – and that has only been possible in fits and spurts since March 2020.
During the pandemic we planned productions that could be staged quickly whenever we were allowed to open safely to the public: two in the fall of 2020, three in the summer and fall of 2021, and four so far in 2022. In order to operate safely we were open at 25% capacity. So even when performances sold out, they didn’t cover the cost of operations.
But the point of The Shadowbox Theatre has never been financial.
Sure, we always hope to generate some profit from any performance being staged there, but The Shadowbox Theatre’s mission is to provide an affordable venue for theatre artists and other performance artists of all kinds to showcase their art and entertain audiences who want something outside the mainstream.
And we’re happy to say that this mission has been successful beyond what we imagined when the theatre opened in January 2018. Since the first performance at The Shadowbox Theatre – John Patrick Shanley’s play Doubt in February 2018 – it has hosted 20 plays by Post Productions, more than a dozen courses and workshops in our Theatre Skills Education Program, 25 productions by other companies and independent artists, several stand-up comedy events, five improv shows (so far – they’re now a monthly feature), several important meetings, and even a couple of fundraisers.
The Shadowbox has become home of the Windsor-Essex Playwriting Contest and The Edele Winnie Women’s Monologue Competition. It’s been used to film music videos and to record music. And in 2020 it hosted the first ever gathering of what is now called the Windsor-Essex Theatre Alliance (WETA). Basically, even during the darkest days of the pandemic, The Shadowbox Theatre has been buzzing with life from day one.
To be honest, our first and primary motivation for opening The Shadowbox Theatre was that Post Productions needed its own venue – a space not only to perform but to rehearse, to store set pieces and props, and to conduct the endless behind-the scenes work of theatre that patrons never get to see (thankfully). Our desires for the space were very simple: an intimate black-box theatre with no unnecessary bells and whistles, able to seat 40-60 people comfortably without distraction. Yet we never wanted The Shadowbox Theatre to be just the home of Post Productions, a company that was founded with the intent of supporting and encouraging all theatre companies and theatre artists in Windsor-Essex.
We wanted it to be a home away from home for artists who didn’t quite fit into the mainstream mold. A welcoming place for those who, like us, were a little odd and fiercely independent, who wanted to tell stories others weren’t telling and provide experiences that couldn’t be had anywhere else in our region.
Profit margins in theatre are slim across the board, even for big budget Broadway style musicals. For smaller companies and independent artists that want to create experiences other than big splashy musicals, other venues are simply too expensive to consider. Productions at The Shadowbox Theatre will never make as much as the four thousandth production of The Wizard of Oz – and that’s just fine with us. Other companies in our region do those sorts of shows very well (we often pay to see them ourselves).
The Shadowbox Theatre is home to more personal, intimate, and intense experiences that truly aren’t for all audiences, or all ages, or all tastes. The goal of providing an affordable venue to quirky and independent theatre audiences was working well for The Shadowbox Theatre until March 2020. When the pandemic shut the theatre down in the first wave of COVID-19 we had to decide whether we were willing to take on debt to keep it alive or close it to save our own bottom-line. And we’ve had to make that same choice repeatedly with each new wave of a pandemic that, to be frank, has overstayed its welcome.
The choice to keep The Shadowbox Theatre alive so it could continue its mission when the pandemic finally departed (or became endemic instead) has been costly. Any money we were saving to upgrade the Shadowbox’ facilities and equipment was eaten up and so far, not all of the audience we worked so hard to build has returned; ticket sales are about 30% what they used to be.
We don’t expect this situation to continue forever. Audiences will return as people become more comfortable with the post-COVID reality – and if we were able to build those audience members once, we’re confident we’ll be able to do it again.
Already there are clear rays of hope.
Recently, Post Productions partnered with Purple Theatre Company and from now on both companies will be resident at The Shadowbox Theatre. And even though Post Productions hasn’t announced its 2023 season yet, The Shadowbox Theatre is nearly completely booked from December 2022 to December 2023.
Obviously, theatre is coming back with a vengeance. The artists of Windsor-Essex are determined to entertain you.
The September 10th fundraiser is another hopeful sign – more than hopeful, actually. It might be better to call it a symbol of grace. One of the intentions of the fundraiser, we were told, is to help The Shadowbox Theatre purchase permanent stage lighting, something it’s lacked so far. Any theatre company, including Post Productions, that wanted lighting beyond simple white flood lights, has had to rent lights elsewhere. Having its own theatre lighting means that every company and artist that uses The Shadowbox Theatre will be able to save hundreds of dollars per production, which is a lot when you consider that in independent theatre that can be the difference between a profit or a loss.
We know that there’s a lot of support in Windsor-Essex for the arts – and we hope that everyone who values independent, locally produced, locally cast, locally crewed, and often locally written theatre will support this fundraiser and celebrate, with us, the incredible art that’s being produced in our region.
Together we can ensure that the local economy keeps growing and that theatre remains an important part of it. The Let There Be Light fundraiser will be held at Rock Bottom Bar and Grill (3236 Sandwich St., Windsor) on September 10th at 1:00 PM.
Ticket price is $50 – food, drinks, and entertainment included. To reserve tickets email jaz_fit@yahoo.com or bbrodie1@outlook.com.
