THE OAKVILLE PLAYERS PRESENTS SOMETHING NEW
While the pandemic successfully disrupted the long-standing run of the Oakville Drama Series, The Oakville Players remains hopeful of its return. The journey back to the stage has been slow and steady. The Oakville Players' first production after the pandemic closures ended was the successful production of their One-Act Festival, aptly named the Top 10 Comeback Festival. While The Oakville Players aims to find its way back to the mainstage the high production costs and low ticket sales projections prevent them from doing so in a sustainable fashion. So until then, the group will focus on productions to fulfill its mission to provide quality entertainment for the community.
In 2023 The Oakville Players tried something new. Building on its body of radio plays their 2023 production took the presentation to another level. Dracula: A Radio Play Mini-Series was presented as a 10-episode production that can be enjoyed in a podcast format (Episodes 1-9) and culminating in the Series Finale (Episode 10) being presented live and in-person.
They are confident this hybrid approach provided an enjoyable experience for their fans!
In 2024 the Series Finale was released as a podcast making the entire series available for your listening pleasure!
For more information about this production, please visit dracularadioplay.oakvilleplayers.ca
If you would like to stay updated on The Oakville Players' activities and news, please visit: Oakville Players' Website
THE 2020-2021 SEASON IS CANCELLED :(
Following the announcement of The Oakville Centre For The Performing Arts decision to close for the remainder of 2020, The Oakville Drama Series will be cancelling its 2020-2021 Season. The closure of the venue was anticipated, given the safe pace the province has mandated in its plans to re-open the economy.
The Oakville Drama Series has been presenting plays at the Oakville Centre For the Performing since 1979 and this will be the first time in our history that we are not returning this fall.
While we were originally slated to open the season in October 2020 with “The Laramie Project”, the decision to cancel had been a topic of discussion soon after we presented “Footloose The Musical” in March. The musical's last performance was just 5 days before province-wide closures put a halt to everything but essential services.
Other factors that led to this decision included studying the financial impact posed by proposed social distancing measures, even when venues do re-open. Limited seating capacity means insufficient revenue to offset production costs. In addition, ongoing safety concerns also mean, you may still not be comfortable enough to attend a show (at least initially). We also need to continue researching ideas on revising production workflows, including developing COVID-19-related workplace safety plans for our cast and crew during rehearsals. This will require more time to prepare, and in all likelihood added expenses.
As much as we remained hopeful of returning next season, The Oakville Centre closure is one of many factors that has essentially left us with no other choice but to cancel. Both groups operate as nonprofits and are volunteer-run. We’ve concluded that our limited resources are best served to find ways to remain sustainable for the coming months and focus on preparing for the 2021-2022 season.
We will miss rounding up our talented and eager volunteers to put on our shows, however, accept that this decision was vital to our future. We look forward to keeping you up to date on our plans going forward and can't wait to see you back in 2021!
On behalf of everyone at The Oakville Players and West End Studio Theatre, thank you for all your support in the past, now and in the future!
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@oakvilledrama.ca To stay updated, please visit this site again, follow us on social media and sign up for our email newsletter!
Until then, take care!
Sincerely,
Alex Ragozzino
The Oakville Drama Series