'Nothing like a live audience': Port Stanley Festival Theatre to open Aug. 17

Port Stanley, Ont. -

The stage lights are about to come back on at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre (PSFT).

"There will be life back on the stage," says Simon Joynes, artistic director of PSFT.

''It's huge as I've essentially become an accountant, so it's really nice to not be an accountant anymore, and be an artistic director again."

Fifty seats, or about 25 per cent of the capacity at the 200-seat theatre will be filled for a 10-week run of shows beginning August 17.

London, Ont. crooner Rick Kish will do 16 performances in October.

"There is nothing like being in front an audience," says Kish, whose 'Crooner Show' celebrates songs by artists from Frank Sinatra to Michael Buble.

"Especially with the shows we do, we do a lot of live and interactive stuff with the audience so its important to have that connection. I also have a long history with that theatre, so for me it's like going home."

Only once in the last two years has there been any activity at PSFT and that was just 35 people last September for a Playwright's Festival. But thanks to previous savings, and some subsidies, they were able to keep afloat.

"In 2020, the show season had been on sale for months, we'd sold about $220,000 worth of tickets," says Joynes.

"Then we had to cancel the season, so we had to call everybody and ask them what they wanted us to do. Their choice was whether they wanted to defer or whether they wanted to donate? Many of them were really great and they donated that ticket money back to us so that's really helped us get through."

With eight performances over five days, it will bring few hundred people into the village. The evening shows extend the life in the village and it's a real economic driver for businesses on the east side of the bridge.

"It's a huge impact on our business because we'll have people in all the time and we'll just be able to staff knowing that we're going to be busy," says Terri Collard, owner of Two Forks Restaurant.

"We need it after the last year that we've had so whether it's massive or small we'll take whatever we got at this point."

Joynes says it's important to resume even if they won't make much money due to reduced capacity.

"We really need to get it up and running again, not just for us but also for the for the community, the merchants, for the artists we support, and to get a brand back," says Joynes.