MEACHAM 鈥� Meacham鈥檚 Dancing Sky Theatre is returning to performing shows, by adapting to COVID-19 with physically distant outdoor performances around a campfire.
鈥淲e had a lot of conversations where we thought people after lockdown are kind of itching to get back together, itching for social events, but how might we do that in a way that is safe and in a way that they feel safe,鈥� said Angus Ferguson, the theatre鈥檚 artistic director.
When Dancing Sky first started, they performed in large outdoor productions. Now with COVID-19, going back to the old way is the safest.
鈥淭hat was sort of the inspiration; find a way that is safe for people to congregate, and to return to sort of the basics. What we鈥檙e doing really isn鈥檛 theatre, it鈥檚 storytelling around the fire.鈥�
The team built an amphitheater and firepit area in the theatre鈥檚 backyard that can hold about 30 physically distanced people.
鈥淚t鈥檚 in sort of separated chunks, with bleachers that are separated from each other. So even outdoors, people will have their own double space,鈥� Ferguson said. 鈥淭he inside, with washrooms and stuff, we鈥檒l have traffic flow only one way.鈥�
Spectators will be entertained with historical fiction tales, with their roots in Saskatchewan鈥檚 history.
These stories include Indigenous stories, colonial settler stories, and recent immigrant stories.
鈥淭he commonality with all the stories is the people who walked this landscape, because we鈥檙e here looking at the landscape and we designed the storytelling. So the sun will be setting about when we start, and you will be able to look out.鈥�
Artist and storyteller Elizabeth Nepjuk will be telling the tale about Ukrainian immigrants who resettled here, drawing from her own Ukrainian heritage.
鈥淪he鈥檚 providing stories that aren鈥檛 sort of 鈥榝act鈥�, but they鈥檙e kind of based around the things she knows, that her grandma and great-grandma told her. So I guess it鈥檚 about taking personal experience and turning it into fiction.鈥�
Ferguson said that he hopes people walk away from the showings that the challenges communities face unite them
鈥淲hether you were walking this landscape, pre-contact, or whether you were a homesteader, or whether you were someone arriving now鈥� the joys and the challenges of the prairies, of the landscape, and common to us all, and they sort of unite us all.鈥�
The showings in Meacham will run from Tuesday to Sunday, Sept. 10 to 20 at the Dancing Sky Theatre. The night鈥檚 events will start with a picnic at 7 p.m., and then move onto the show at 7:30 p.m.
To book tickets, people can call 306-653-5191 or visit their website at ontheboards.ca.
