“Take care of yourself and live your truth because when this is all said and done, the world needs storytelling healers like us to help make sense of it all.”

I do well when I give myself deadlines, writing challenges, and to-do lists. I scheduled a Zoom reading with some actors who have been generously helping me develop my play Cenotaph. This forced me to finish a draft worthy of their talents and watching Yolanda Bonnell, Aldrin Bundoc, Graham Conway, and Michael Chiem read my silly play lit a much-needed fire under my ass to keep writing.

Covid gave us a moment to gather our thoughts and to slow down for a moment. There is some good in this slowing down period for artists. For some people, it feels like they can never catch their breath.

“Do whatever you need to do to keep your mind and your skillset sharp. We are coming back, and you want to be ready when it’s time.”

I want everyone to be able to return safely and for audiences to feel welcomed but also taken care of. I don’t want to rush anything. Even though I’ve had to confront the injustice of how certain things can be open while others have to remain shut, I understand the motivations and financial interests, it just feels like artists get the rough go of it again.

[Covid] made me sensitive to think and see beyond the obvious. It made me face fear and transform it. It made me want to come back to theatre to take the space that for years has been only been given and allowed to a certain sector of the population. It made me want to work towards taking on more leadership roles in our community. It made me sensitive to the work that needs to be done in order to achieve equity

Hopefully theatre will become prominent in a post Covid world. I think we need it and I honestly can’t wait for it. I hope as we come out of Covid that theatre involves a lot more creator involved work which becomes more insightful. That is the transformation which I hope to see happen here in Montreal

I was given some incredible opportunities to film performances for online streaming. Highlights being a Christmas concert for Stratford Summer Music filmed at the beautiful Knox Church in downtown Stratford, and filming my cabaret “Voice of a Preacher’s Son” on the Stratford Festival stage for their upcoming series “Up Close and Musical” for stratfest@home

All I know of work in the theatre is coming together with a common, tangible purpose – to serve up a story that the audience can connect with. To share a piece of ourselves in the process and finishing the night with appreciation, there’s no other better job in the world.

Something else this pandemic has taught me is the fact I’m committed to this life of the artist in my soul and in my body. It’s the only thing I’ve ever really wanted and trained for. Now that I’m in the thick of my career, it’s going to take a lot more than a pandemic to get me to turn the corner and do something else.

I use the word ‘reflection’ or in French we use the word ‘ressourcement’: the idea of returning back to sources of inspiration. Covid has given us a lot of time to reflect, to take stock, and to contemplate and replenish our creativity as much as we can.

We’ve been glued to our phones, tablets, tvs, screens, books, and honestly, I’m not entirely ungrateful for that, if only because I have a feeling, once things are deemed safe enough, that people will truly want and appreciate the access to shared experiences again in live performance.

“Just because it has been done a particular way up to now does not mean that's the way it HAS to be now or moving forward. Continue to learn and practice and hone your skills and don't limit yourself to one ‘thing’.”

The uncertainty facing our industry has cast a big, looming shadow over my writing desk, and my focus has been even more scattered than it usually is. But once I really got going, the act of writing was very pleasurable.

Nothing can replace live theatre. There is a sanctity to what we do as theatre artists. People gather together to experience things that can’t otherwise be experienced – not unlike what happens in a church or synagogue. There’s an elevation, a nobility, and a feeling of sanctuary.

I am looking forward to all the new discoveries and the re-discoveries of theatre because let’s face it – when things were being performed in the amphitheater by daylight or moonlight many, many moons ago, that was the only lighting plot we had. We can’t let our advancements and concepts now surround the piece and the people get in the way, we can’t let this happen. We need to find new discoveries to do things in live performance.

“Take this time to try and feel out who you really are and what you can offer while trying to limit how often you play the comparing game.”

I love the fact Hal Prince said theatre should spark curiosity. I think curiosity is the thing we need to build bridges in this time. When you can start to cultivate that in yourself with people who have radically different sets of beliefs than you do, you can be curious about them. You can begin to open doors and make those connections

“The Bedlam Theatre Company of NYC, known for “creating works of theatre that reinvigorates traditional form,” continues to make exciting art despite the limitations of the Pandemic.”

Realistically it’s more like three to five years before theatre will come back. The majority of these theatre companies will produce less shows, smaller shows, less rehearsal time. They’ll be looking to pare down their costs because many of these companies are not supported by the government or external funding. They still have to continue paying their overhead and their staff to run so many areas.