Blog

Numbers rising in 13/14

Théâtre la Seizième is ending a very busy season. With 4 plays for general audiences and three tours for young audiences, the company reached almost 28 000 Francophones and Francophiles across the country in 2013-2014.

[uppercase]Mainstage season[/uppercase]
In Vancouver, the plays for general audiences brought in about 1500 audience members to Studio 16. This represents an attendance record for the regular season at Théâtre la Seizième. In addition, the audience satisfaction rating reached the exceptional mark of 97%.

Having received three nominations for the Jessie Richardson Awards in the category « Large Theatres », the annual production by Théâtre la Seizième, Des fraises en janvier (Strawberries in January), on its own attracted 720 audience members. It is an increase of 17% compared to last year and 48% compared to 2011-2012. “Our local productions attract more and more fans of quality theatre, whether they are Francophones or Anglophones. We are very happy with these numbers which demonstrate the extent of the talent here”, said Craig Holzschuh, the Artistic Director of Théâtre la Seizième.

Thanks to extra support from our funding bodies, the company was able to add one performance for each of the two invited productions, Moi, dans les ruines rouges du siècle and Après moi this season. Despite adding these 160 tickets, many potential patrons were unable to purchase tickets.

The attendance at the theatre reached 98% this season, which pleases, but also concerns the company’s board of directors. “We find it important to respond to the needs of the community and we are actively searching for the necessary resources to meet them. Managing our growth is at the heart of our 2014-2019 strategic plan that we completed this winter”, explains Véronique St-Antoine, President of the board.

And finally, the company developed a partnership with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs and the PuSh Festival to offer an optional fourth play to our audiences. Presented at the Goldcorp Centre for the arts, The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi by Larry Tremblay reached more than 700 audience members. The play by Théâtre Pàp, with its hybrid language and its subject matter – linguistic assimilation and the loss of identity – worked particularly well as a co-presentation with an Anglophone partner. In total, nearly 2200 audience members came to one or the other of the company’s four regular season plays.

[uppercase]Young audiences season[/uppercase]
For children, Théâtre la Seizième produced and toured Extra-Céleste by Dave Deveau. Developed through the company’s dramaturgical development program, the play was seen by students in 64 primary schools in British-Columbia and Alberta. The production and the artists involved received four nominations and won two Jessie Richardson Awards.

For youth audiences, la Seizième toured Ik Onkar, a new play by Théâtre la Catapulte in Ottawa, which was presented 13 times in high schools in the province. Theatre workshops were also offered in about twenty primary and high schools.

A third play toured many parts of Canada in 2013-2014. The play Statu quo by Gilles Poulin-Denis, produced by Théâtre la Seizième in the spring of 2013, was invited by presenters in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Yukon for a total of 25 performances. “We are very happy to have had the opportunity to showcase our work and the work of the artists in such prestigious venues”, says Craig Holzschuh.

In all, nearly 26 000 young people were able to take advantage of Théâtre la Seizième’s programming for young audiences, from Quebec to Yukon.