Dear editor:

Pick a hot day in September for a day at the theatre. The theatre bell is ringing and you are quickly making your way to your seat. Excitement is in the air.

You walk up to the top balcony and oddly find yourself up in the nosebleed seats. You ask the attendant and find that there is no mistake. Those are the two for $360 seats you had purchased.

The show starts while they pick a volunteer from the audience who will act as an extra actor and give up his afternoon at the theatre to entertain the rest of us.

At intermission, you look around to assess the audience with whom you are sharing this afternoon. Average age: 65. Average income: $150,000 or more.

The show is, at best, at the level of a good high school production.

You happen to be a local among mostly visitors. Most of them don’t know that the Shaw theatres are in expansion mode and, frankly, they would not care.

They are enthralled by the Niagara-on-the-Lake experience of food, wine, a yesteryear atmosphere and the Shaw all wrapped up in a beautiful bow.

But I care. Because this is my backyard. That’s when I ask myself a ridiculous question: “Who exactly are they building a new theatre for?”

Certainly not for the 70 or 80-year-old patrons. And it’s certainly not for the 50s and younger audience, entirely missing from this theatre scene.

Perhaps they are expanding for the 60-to-65-year audience, which may represent 20 to 30 per cent of the audience, as I see it.

Suddenly, it becomes clear to me that the Shaw as we know it is losing touch with new realities.

The loyal audience they have enjoyed is slowly fading away and it is not being replaced by a younger audience.

The plays, musicals and other entertainment offerings that have been key to their success are no longer appealing to younger generations whose taste and attention span have been forever altered by social media and easy access to a plethora of entertainment choices.

My ridiculous question comes up again: “Who are they building for?”

Perhaps they believe that if only they produce a new building, the audience that has been sorely missed will come.

Perhaps they believe that as long as they have donors and government grants at their disposal, current and future audience patterns really do not matter much.

Perhaps it’s a wishful slippery slope to insignificance.

I am asking the board of directors of the Shaw Festival to face the easy question: “Who are they building a new theatre for?”

The cash-strapped 20, 30 and 40-year-olds OR the cash-rich 70-year-olds?

Lydia Madonia
NOTL