Exit, stage left

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This article was published 20/03/2020 (2057 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By Thursday of last week, rumours were flying the arts sector of Winnipeg would follow cities such as New York in a total shutdown. By Saturday, almost all major arts organizations had shuttered for the season.

While the financial impact of the shutdown will undoubtedly have an enormous impact on arts organizations as a whole, it’s the individual artists and arts workers who are out of a job that are feeling the effect on a personal level.

Here are five local faces, on stage and behind the scenes, from music, comedy, dance and theatre who are feeling the brunt of the closures.

Sharon Bajer

“It just changed so fast,” says Sharon Bajer, playwright and director of The Gingerbread Girl, which was set to have its world première at Prairie Theatre Exchange next month. “We had taped out the floor, we had done prep week. We had two days’ notice.

“By the time they called to cancel the show, I was already expecting that it might happen,” says Bajer, known for such works as Burnin’ Love and Molly’s Veil. “But even so, when I heard them say the words, I burst into tears.

“Writing a play takes so many years,” she says. “I started this six or seven years ago and in the last year was working tirelessly on the script. Also, since I was directing it, I had been prepping as a director for a year. It’s kind of a double-whammy.

“I’m sad for myself, sad for PTE, sad for the actors and the creative team. I’m very sad specifically for Sofia Lukie, our set and lighting designer.”

Lukie is originally from Winnipeg but has been training at the University of Alberta. The show would have marked her debut as a designer.

As far as financial impact goes, Bajer has a few writing projects on the go with grant money set aside to help get through the near future. Her partner, Rainbow Stage artistic director Carson Nattrass, is also currently employed — “so far,” she adds.

“I always feel like independent artists are in a state of financial peril,” says Bajer, who is also an actor. “In a way, it’s not unusual to see a bunch of months stretching out ahead of you without any work. I’m also pretty good at budgeting.”

Bajer’s best tip?

“If you can’t eat it, don’t buy it.”

Ntara Curry

Like Bajer, Ntara Curry works in theatre, usually behind the scenes in tech, props and costumes.

Most recently, she was contracted to be props co-ordinator on Narrow Bridge at Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, a props and costume co-ordinator on Crazy for You at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and was to work on a third project yet to be publicly cancelled.

“It all happened so fast,” Curry says. “But all three companies kept us up to date, so there were no huge surprises. I didn’t freak out until all the WJT props materials were out of my house.”

Curry notes that WJT ensured everyone was paid in full for the project. Still, the financial impact of losing even one gig is stressful for a freelance worker.

“I can’t think about it,” she says. “All the casual gigs that keep me together are on hold indefinitely, and at this point in the season, with the number of people in my position, there is no telling when I will make money again. My government aid will be minimal.”

Curry is currently practising social distancing and is spending her free time doing a lot of eating, napping and internet browsing.

“I was feeling pretty good about where my personal practice was at,” she says, “so as long as I maintain some kind of focus, I will be OK. But it is terrifying, sometimes. It’s not great to be alone in this, whatever it is.”

Jaymez

Artists often secure work in multiple industries, including Jaymez (who does not use his last name), who does lighting, projection and sound design for both dance and theatre. He had been contracted to work on three projects, all of which have been postponed or cancelled.

“The first was By Grand Central Station by Heavy Bell at Prairie Theatre Exchange, which luckily opened and had a few performances before it was closed,” Jaymez, 38, says. “I’m very happy at least some people got to see it.

The second was the remount of Ghost Light at Neptune Theatre in Halifax. “I found out about that one a few minutes after stepping off the plane, then was flown home the next day,” he says.

The third project has yet to make a public statement about cancellation, but “it was an amazing script and I was really looking forward to help bring it to life,” he says.

“I also have a number of smaller projects coming up that are all uncertain at this point in time.

“I found out by a phone call in all three cases,” Jaymez says, adding, “It shows a lot of heart that people take to time to personally call and deliver bad news instead of just texting or emailing. It softens the blow a little.”

He wasn’t surprised by the news, especially in the wake of the NHL and NBA season cancellations, but is disappointed people won’t be able see and share in the work so many artists have worked so hard on.

He’s not certain what the financial impact will be on his career down the road, but is hopeful the government will step in and help out artists and arts workers without “too much bureaucracy or red tape.”

“Luckily many theatres are still able to honour their contracts in part or in full, but it also means theatres taking a big loss,” he says. “I also make some of my income at summer festivals, so we shall see what happens once we get closer to summer.

“I really feel for artists and individuals who aren’t so fortunate and who have lost all their income as a result.”

Sarah Jane Martin

Comedian and writer Sarah Jane Martin is feeling the effects of citywide arts-sector shutdowns as well. All her upcoming gigs in standup and sketch comedy have been cancelled.

“I was working on all this new stuff for the shows,” Martin says. “It sucks that they aren’t happening, for now at least. The money isn’t amazing for those kinds of gigs, but really, I’m not in it for the money. I do it because I feel like a can’t not do it. It’s my outlet. Performing feels like a drug, and now I’m going through withdrawal.”

She is also worried about the future of her writing contracts.

“I ghostwrite blogs and digital content for independent businesses, and they all have no idea what’s going to happen,” says the 27-year-old Martin. “Lots of them are closing up for a while, so I don’t know if, and for how long, my services will be needed for a while.”

On top of all that, Martin is also a student in the Red River College Creative Communications program.

“I’m doing it from home. I’m supposed to graduate and do an internship in a month, but everything is getting derailed.”

Martin’s upcoming comedy shows will be rescheduled, but in the meantime, she admits that social distancing is taking a toll on her.

“I’m an extrovert, so self-isolation is pretty hard on me.”

For Martin, the financial impact of shutdowns depends on how the businesses she writes for get hit. Right now, she’s left with a lot of uncertainty.

“I’m honestly trying to not think about it as much as I can,” she says. “Whatever happens, happens. I just gotta ride the wave, focus on finishing this degree, and hope everything falls into place.”

She also admits to a bit of schadenfreude as well.

“It feels a little better knowing that you’re not the only person who feels like a bag of crap right now.”

Raine Hamilton

Winnipeg chamber-folk performer Raine Hamilton returned from a tour in Ontario on Monday and since then, all of the planned studio time she had lined up has been postponed. The singer-songwriter/violinist has also had multiple gigs fall by the wayside.

“I had a concert with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra that was happening, the Cluster Festival in Winnipeg, and a support tour that I was doing with (Halifax singer-songwriter) Gabrielle Papillon… all of that has been cancelled or postponed.”

Hamilton, 35, says she has a sufficient financial cushion to weather the storm, and is feeling encouraged by the support of community and government alike.

“But it’s absolutely thousands and thousands of dollars that I have to absorb,” she says. “Luckily, I’m in a good position where I have been doing this for a few years and I have a cycle figured out enough that I will be OK. But if this had been Year 1 of doing this full time, the story for me would be really different.”

For Hamilton, the shutdown of arts venues and the impact of social distancing is most strongly felt in the lack of creative sharing available.

“Artistically, such an important part of my arts practice is to make and then share and use that art to connect,” she says. “That’s why I make my living this way, as a touring artist. That’s why I do that. If my arts practice is a cycle of discovery, transformation, creation and sharing, then I’m missing that sharing loop for now. It remains to be completed.

“But the world is going to need a lot of completing of that loop when the time comes that we can gather again. I am hopeful that this experience helps to awaken our compassion.”

Frances.Koncan@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @franceskoncan