The Eleanor Drury Children’s Theatre has learned the phrase “the show must go on” is a lot easier said than done.
Last year, for the first time in its 30-year existence, the theatre group failed to put on a December play.
The not-for-profit theatre group started in 1982 and has never missed an opportunity to have its
members take centre stage. The group offers aspiring actors between the ages of 10- and 18-years-old a chance to learn more about acting, drama and the ins-and-outs of theatre.
But the volunteer-run group has fallen on tough times and wasn’t able to put on a play in December.
Christine Sandford, one of the parents who helps organize the plays, says she’s concerned for the group’s future.
One of the theatre group’s biggest problems is a lack of participation at the board level.
“There are a lot of parents and a lot kids who want to be a part of EDCT,” Sandford says.
“There are a lot of parents who will help with costumes, sets and the immediate things. But there doesn’t seem to be a lot of people who are willing to step up and become board members to take on the responsibility of where we are going to do this, who are we going to hire to direct and how we are going to take care of our finances.”
Parents covered many of these responsibilities when their children were part of the group.
Sandford says the board has a high turnover rate because parent’s children grow up and leave the group meaning there isn’t a core of board members to oversee production.
The group has also faced challenges finding a place to practice and perform.
The EDCT used to have an agreement to use the Bora Laskin Building for free at Lakehead University, but they have since moved out and don’t have a permanent home. Now that they have to look to rent a space, and Sandford says it’s difficult to cover costs since they rely on donations and ticket sales to cover expenses for putting on a play.
In order to keep the theatre group alive, the volunteers are holding an open house on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at the Waverly Library at 7 p.m.
Sandford says for the first time the theatre group will open itself up to the public in the hopes of attracting board members who are not parents of theatre members.
“The group started because there was no opportunity at all for kids to do theatre,” she says. “It continued because they could keep the prices at a level that people could afford. If EDCT was gone, there would be less opportunity for kids to do theatre.”
Sandford’s daughter, Armelle, started with the EDCT when she was 10.
Armelle is now 17, and says she wants to improve her acting ability, learn more about theatre, and feels the EDTC provided the best experience for her.
Now that she’s nearly finished with her acting career with the children’s theatre group, Armelle says she wants to return to help ensure others have a chance to get on the stage and perform as well.
But Armelle, having been with the group for so long, has been witnessing the EDCT’s struggles and knows it could eventually be unable to put on a show.
“I saw it coming,” she says of the theatre group’s struggles.
“My first year was the best year, but since then and the year after it has slowly gone down. Members left because they were too old or realized that they didn’t want to be actors. It seemed like there wasn’t as many kids joining so the group got smaller.”
Emily Magajna share’s Armelle’s concerns.
The 14-year-old joined the group when she was 10 because her older brother had experience performing and she wanted to act. She says she loved watching her brother, Aidan, perform and wanted to share in that experience.
“Acting is putting on a mask and playing pretend,” Emily says. “Everybody is doing it and you get to live a story. It’s fiction brought to life. I really love EDCT. I love the plays, I love making the plays and I love the people that we make the plays with.”
Emily’s mother, Brenda Magajna, says the value of a theatre group like EDCT is that it helps children in many ways. She believes children learn valuable skills from taking responsibility and earning lines.
She believes is can improve their self-confidence by performing in front of a live audience.
She says the group’s future now rests with the community.
“The thing I really like about EDCT is that it is not-for-profit and it is community run,” Magajna says.
“I think that is important. There was talk at one point of merging with Paramount Live but that eliminates the whole point of us being a community group. This is the first year in 30 years we haven’t run a session and it was because we didn’t have the board to put it together.”
