Tonight was suppose to be the premier performance of Smiths Falls Community Theatre’s second play of the 2020 season: The Fantastiks! 2020 is the Station Theatre tenth year anniversary since it opened up in Smiths Falls, and this season was suppose to be a celebration of that.
SFCT had planned for a Gala Night for each production this year as a thank you to the community.
Though our second play of the year is not going to happen due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the theatre has been dark now for eight weeks and it looks like it will remain that way for a few more as well.
For those who don’t know what The Fantastiks is about; it’s a 1960 musical with music composed by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It’s an allegorically story, which is loosely passed on another play called The Romancers. It’s about two neighbouring fathers who trick their children into falling in love by pretending to feud. It was chosen by the play selection community last year as part of the tenth year celebratory thank you to our audience.
The play, directed by Lynda Daniluk, had been caste and the performers where rehearsing for this production ever since our first play “Key For Two” ended. The tech crew being assembled, the stage crew working on the set, gathering props for this play was already set in motion.
Then the news hit of the outbreak and then a state of emergency was declared for Ontario. Shutting down nearly all public places where people gathered in large numbers.
Everything came to a screeching halt.
And I mean everything at the theatre; our movies weekend, rentals and rehearsals had stopped. Period. Covid-19 has thrown a huge monkey wrench into the system that’s for sure.
We’ll just have to wait it out and see’s what happens.
The theatre is dark and will remain that way, I’m sure the actors will be off book by the time the lights brighten a darken stage.
The Fantastiks! will take to the stage but we don’t know when.