by Deb Keyt ~ Ecstatic Director
‘My joy’s complete, oh how my heart is bursting.’
What an epic adventure we’ve shared with our splendid production of Anne & Gilbert and every challenge we faced and overcame, on several occasions, has only made our triumphs all the more rewarding.
The disruption of our 2020 season resulted in a heightened appreciation of our passion for live theatre and a renewed vigour and gratitude for why we do it and adore it.
Our auditions were held in February 2020 and we truly were overwhelmed by the calibre of talent and we were thrilled with our remarkable cast. Headhunting for a few final missing players resulted in a completed cast we were overjoyed with. Rehearsals began in earnest and we were so excited after every rehearsal with the professionalism and enthusiasm of everyone involved. We even had a wonderful surprise visit from Alanna Jankov, CEO of The Guild Theatre on Prince Edward Island, where Anne & Gilbert is performed annually, which was a treat for us all.
We were merrily rolling along, with COVID becoming an ever threatening, ominous cloud above our heads. On the 22nd March last year, we announced to our cast and crew that we were starting our dramatic pause and postponing our production and planned to resume rehearsals in February 2021.
For the next ten months, our cast and crew kept connected via our Facebook group and emails with weekly updates and a countdown till our next rehearsal and new opening night date. The cast was given creative challenges such as writing a journal entry in the day of the life of their character and a challenge of imagining what life was like in 1881 and 1882 which meant going tech-free without any mod-cons for 3, 6, 12 or 24 hours.
On the 22nd of May last year, which would have been our original opening night, we had a Zoom soiree with musical and dramatic performances and games. Throughout the year we had many virtual catch-ups and finally, in November when we could gather in person, enjoyed a picnic in the park to celebrate Lucy Maud Montgomery’s (the author of the Anne novels) birthday. It was fabulous to be together. Rainy skies were not going to dampen our spirits and it gave us immense hope that with the easing of restrictions our much-awaited return to rehearsals was not far away.
Over the hiatus, we inevitably had four casting and one production team change. We were so looking forward to our first rehearsal on St Valentines Day which was quite apt as the day devoted to love but the snap lockdown meant we had to wait one more week. Patience was certainly a virtue we were becoming adept at! We were so happy and relieved to finally be back rehearsing and we cherished every moment.
Time definitely flies when you’re having fun and before we knew it, we were counting down the sleeps till our very long-awaited opening night. Production week was a flurry of activity and the all too familiar feeling of not enough hours in the day to complete all the jobs on our to-do list.
Our opening night was an electrifying buzz of anticipation and the very welcome applause, cheers, tears and laughter of our sold-out crowd was worth the wait. It was a superb feeling! Our opening weekend was a euphoric blur and the positive feedback we received was quite incredible and we were all floating on air.
Out of the blue, we all came crashing down when our blissful bubble was burst firstly by the announcement of tightening restrictions and then the news we didn’t want to hear - we were going into another lockdown. We all rallied around and stayed as positive and optimistic as we possibly could and with the support of our loyal Committee and the unrelenting resilience of our cast and crew who were unswervingly determined to take to the stage again. It was an anxious wait for us all and we reallocated tickets and extended our season. We once again took to Zoom to lift our spirits with a virtual pajama party and online quiz and trivia get-togethers.
An extension to our lockdown only strengthened our resolution. Finishing our season in grand style was our entire focus. As soon as we received the official news that restrictions were gradually easing and lockdown was lifting, we immediately started planning five final performances to give our patient and faithful cast, crew and band the fitting finale they deserved.
Our original sellout season of 950 tickets was reduced to 435, with 515 tickets having to be refunded. The old show biz adage of ‘the show must go on’ has never had more meaning than it did for us as we all returned to the theatre on Friday 11th June. We had to keep pinching ourselves because it felt rather surreal. Our final performances were magnificent and our capacity audiences gratitude was palpable.
The bond our cast and crew have formed is extraordinary under unprecedented circumstances and that bond and combined devotion individually and collectively is incredibly special. Their goodwill, dedication and commitment is a testament to the character of everyone involved and we are rejoicing at the splendour that we shared staging our glorious production of the Australian Premiere of Anne & Gilbert.
“God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world”