‘Biggest challenge we’ve ever faced’: How B.C. non-profits survived COVID-19 and at what price

As B.C.’s biggest artist employer, the Arts Club Theatre Company scheduled only five productions in 2021/2022 so it would have the ability to sustain any further losses.

For the first time in 20 months, the Arts Club Theatre Company opened its marquee venue to the public on Nov. 18, with a new twist on a holiday classic.

The Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage’s 620 seats had been empty since the start of the pandemic – before Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol kicked off the theatre company’s 2021/2022 season.

“COVID-19 is the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced,” executive director Peter Cathie White told Global News.

Western Canada’s largest theatre company cancelled more than 20 productions before becoming one of the first in the country to resume live performances – with one-actor shows, strict pandemic protocols and audiences of 50 in September 2020.

“We usually employ between 300 to 500 artists every year and we went down to like 20,” said Cathie White.

With revenue down 92 per cent, the non-profit relied on subsidies, fundraising and its rainy day fund to stave off up to $5 million in losses this season.

“This was the rainiest day that you could imagine for the arts,” Cathie White added.

As B.C.’s biggest artist employer, the Arts Club Theatre Company scheduled only five productions in 2021/2022 so it would have the ability to sustain any further losses.