Ten Niagara Arts Companies want to see YOU this season!

My apologies for not writing my usual Saturday diatribe, but a combination of the Grape & Wine Grande Parade and the fact I was finishing work on the front porch this past weekend (yes, it is finally done...for now!), plus the fact I was setting up a wireless connection at home, all conspired against my creative energies...until now.

I wanted to write about an event I attended earlier this month at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre in downtown St. Catharines, now home to ten, count 'em, ten arts companies over the course of the year. On September 9th, all ten companies showcased highlights of their respective seasons, all of which take place at this intimate, almost quaint theatre space in downtown St. Catharines. If that evening is anything to go by, and I am sure it is, we're in for some thought-provoking and creative theatre this fall/winter/spring at the venerable Courthouse Theatre.

The ten companies are as follows: Brock Centre for the Arts, Carousel Players, Essential Collective Theatre, Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects, NeXt Company Theatre, Niagara Dance Company, Stray Theatre, Suitcase in Point, Theatre A&A and Theatre Beyond Words. Now, I know what you're thinking: "What's Brock Centre for the Arts doing in that list? They have their own theatre space at Brock University." Well, yes, they do. But this will be the first time the Centre for the Arts will be testing the waters downtown, no doubt in anticipation of moving downtown once the performing arts centre is built, with a performance April 1st of next year by Debashish Bhattacharya, the Indian guitar maestro, who will perform with his brother Subhasis on tablas. That should be the ideal show to bring downtown, and I hope all the seats are filled for the performance.

Speaking of seats filled during the performance, I think it is important to note that once you get past the opening night with most of these companies, which are usually full, the remainder of the performances are not always sold out, and that is a shame, really. Sure, some shows will do better than others and even some days will be better theatre days than others, but when you come right down to it, more people should be venturing downtown to discover a wealth of live theatre experiences throughout the fall/winter/spring. We know we can travel to Centre for the Arts at Brock University for a myriad of live performances from October to April each year, and from April to November each year we can travel the short distance to the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

But what about downtown? You'd be surprised by what you find! Last season, I attended most of the Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects shows, for example, and they rivalled just about anything you'll see in the more familiar summer theatre venues, at very affordable prices. And don't forget, Ric Reid, one half of the Lyndesfarne team with wife Kelly Daniels, is a well-respected actor at the Shaw Festival during the summer months. In fact, you can still catch him in Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma at the Festival Theatre until the end of the present season. In other words, with all of the companies I have seen at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre, the quality is great, the prices reasonable, and the variety is simply astounding. You couldn't want for more variety in a downtown venue or anywhere else for that matter, so what's stopping you?

Parking shouldn't be a problem, as Market Square is right next door. Don't know what peformances are coming up? Most companies have their own websites now and they should be easy enough to find; heck, I just finished putting all the companies' full seasons up on the calendar page of my website, www.finemusic.ca, and if that doesn't make it any easier for you, I don't know what will.

DAPA, or the Downtown Alliance for the Performing Arts, what you to experience what they have to offer. So this season, why not take a night or afternoon and simply head downtown for one of the performances at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre? You'll be impressed by what you see!

September 28th, 2010.