We’re home now. We got home on Monday. But I haven’t yet told you about the best part of the tour so here it is …..drum roll please……. NELSON! So it turns out that Nelson is A) Really super far from Tofino and that making that trip in one day makes for a long day in the car and B) really awesome.
People in Nelson smile at each other on the street, they are generous and kind, everyone knows everyone else and there are so many young people. They even have a store where every item has an expensive price and a cheap price and you can choose which one you want to pay. Most of the time people pay more. All of the food is organic or homemade or local or gluten-free and so damn tasty. It is a community where people seem to trust each other and because of that they do the right thing. Granted I was only there for 4 days but this was my general impression.
ITSAZOO’s designer in residence, Mere, recently moved to Nelson and her and her partner showed us an amazing time while we were there. Snowboarding, gorgeous restaurants, fancy wines, a wicked jam session and scallops wrapped in awesome things – basically it was a great time.
Now on to the theatre part of the trip. We performed at the TNT Playhouse. This is a great little space in the hall of a church. Upon our arrival we realized that the TNT Playhouse would soon be closing down and that we were the last show be play in the space. Richard has successfully run this theatre for three years but with the loss of his Gaming Funding is no longer able to afford the rent. It’s a sad story that exists all over this province. Here are some photos of the space:
We had extremely supportive audiences both nights and were able to make some contacts that will hopefully lead to us returning to Nelson in the coming year.
Now the tour is done and I want to be sure to say some thank yous. Thanks to everyone who hosted us, to everyone who presented us, to the small towns that showed us city folk such kindness and generosity, to Enterprise for not getting too mad about the scrape on the truck, to all of the companies and individuals that lent us things we couldn’t afford, to the Canada Council, the McLean Foundation and the BC Arts Council for seeing that what we do is worth investing in, to the amazing cast, to Shawn – the most patient stage manager anyone could ask for, to the designers who begged, borrowed and imagined their way to a fantastic show and most importantly to everyone who saw Chairs: A Parable because without an audience there’d be no reason to do a show.
Now on to the next one. As Colby says “Another day another play”.
