By Kaitlyn Clark
The Haldimand Press
DUNNVILLE—Just before they were set to make their return post-pandemic, the cast and crew of Dunnville Community Theatre (DCT) have been struck by a COVID-19 outbreak that has forced them to cancel their shows for November 18 and 19.
“Wow! Just wow! This is such a disappointment to us,” explained Claire Vanden Pol, Treasurer of DCT. “We were so looking forward to being back on stage this weekend. It would have been almost exactly three years since our last show.”
“At this point everyone but the technical crew who never gets near the rest of us” have tested positive for COVID-19, explained Vanden Pol.
The first positive tests popped up about a month ago, and DCT was hoping to be out of the woods come showtime. However, two more members tested positive this Sunday, November 13. With the limited time between those positive cases and the first dates, particularly with certain dates including dinner, DCT made the difficult decision to cancel those shows.
The curtain will raise on November 24, with shows going until November 27.
“By November 24 the last of us will have hit day 10, which is the Government of Ontario guideline for wearing masks. To make our audience comfortable, everyone who is not on stage will continue to wear masks,” said Vanden Pol, noting everyone on stage will be well past the 10-day timeline. “By the time of the dinner theatre on the 27th, a full two weeks will have passed since the last of us had symptoms or a positive test.”
For people who purchased tickets for the original opening night on November 18, DCT is hoping they will be available to join them on the new opening night of November 24 or for November 25. If not, their money will be refunded. For those who purchased dinner theatre tickets for November 19, their money will be refunded but DCT hopes “they will order tickets for the 24th or 25th” to see the play.
“We also understand that our audience for these two (cancelled) shows is going to be very disappointed and we are so sorry for that! It is obvious that COVID is still a force to be reckoned with and that is also a very big disappointment,” concluded Vanden Pol. “But despite this setback we have learned some valuable lessons, we have grown as a group, and we will get back up and move forward again.”
