I’m willing to hash out almost any amount of cash to see a good Shakespeare work. I almost cried this year when I found out that I wouldn’t have the funds to see The Tempest at Stratford. It is important that these works be seen, and made accessible to everyone- the sad reality is that staff have to be paid, and operating budgets must be accounted for.
This work is breaking down that barrier. Last summer we beat the monetary concern by making it accessible for subway fare. This spring, we are beating it again, by once again making our work free to the patrons and patients. We are also surpassing a new boundary- actually bringing it to those who are not in a healthy state to attend theatre venues.
Don’t get me wrong- a lot of theatre venues work very hard to make their stages and seating accessible by those who have a physical handicap. However, it’s not always possible to give this accessibility right away. It may take time to develop the finances, the programming, the blueprints etc.. There is also a plethora of specific personal medical reasons that may prevent a patron from attending theatre performances. The best thing that management can do, is stay on top of the building codes, and address each question as it comes.
So, our project surpasses this concern, by bringing the Bard to those who normally can not attend due to physical, or medical reasons. If you are looking for a reason to vote today, do it because we are breaking down the barriers for the Bard! http://pep.si/hDkj1N
It’s funny…the whole idea actually got started when one of the ensemble from SOTS went to the hospital for stitches (which were for an unrelated injury that happened the evening following the performance). Somebody saw the cbc news report and said to her “hey, they should bring that here!” You can check out that same report here:
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/TV_Shows/Connect_with_Mark_Kelley/1305591601/ID=1574805807