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ANNUAL

REPORT

PREPARED BY

THE NORM FOSTER

THEATRE FESTIVAL

www.fosterfestival.com

5 Race Street, Upstairs, St. Catharines, ON L2R 3M1


OUR

FESTIVAL

OUR MISSION

The Foster Festival is a theatre company inspired by the work of

internationally renowned Canadian playwright Norm Foster. It is our

mission to showcase the heart and humour of Foster’s writing in a

dedicated environment employing the finest Canadian theatre

practitioners, and to foster and support emerging and established

Canadian playwrights interested in stories that are entertaining but

also deeply meaningful to and reflective of our audience.

NORM FOSTER'S PLAYS

Norm Foster is renowned for his ability to examine extraordinary moments

in the lives of ordinary Canadians. As always, Norm says it best, “I think for

the most part, they’re about ordinary people just trying to get by in life. I never

set out with a monumental purpose in mind. I’m not trying to teach an audience

a lesson or pass along some profound message, because I don’t think I’m

qualified. What I am trying to do is make them feel a little better about this

world, and that’s not easy these days”. Watching a Foster play, you feel that

his characters are people you really know. It is not an accident that he is

the most beloved and popular playwright in Canada. His stories are laughout-loud

funny while delivering tremendous heart and depth.

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report


OUR

STAFF

MESSAGE FROM OUR

ARTISTIC PRODUCER

This past year has been filled with change and feels like a transitional moment for

us. In what seems like an intermission between acts, we are using this pause in

production to review, restructure and rehearse for what may come. We have yet

to learn or fully appreciate the true impact that COVID-19 has had on our

performing arts institutions and our artists. Only time will tell.

In this report , you will learn more about the Economic & Social Impact The Foster

Festival, and the Arts Industry as a whole, has on our local communities and the

importance of that impact. Whatever comes next for our industry The Foster

Festival will persevere, continuing our commitment to our artists, our audiences

and our community.

Emily Oriold

MESSAGE FROM OUR BUSINESS MANAGER

Thirty-two years ago I sat in a dark theatre. The town, Niagara-on-the-Lake, the

theatre, The Royal George, and the play -- J.B. Priestley’s Dangerous Corner.

The show begins in darkness with a muffled gunshot and a scream. Lights

come up to reveal a drawing-room at a stylish country retreat. Four women

are seated listening to a radio play. A chance remark ignites a series of

devastating admissions, the disclosure of which, has tragic consequences. The

play ends with time slipping back to the start of the evening, the chance

remark not being made, the secrets stay hidden and the ‘dangerous corner’

avoided. I thought about that play early in my work to help the Foster Festival

recover from several unexpected events. But, like the play, we managed to

rewind time.

Now, COVID 19, the latest dangerous corner. As the lights come up on our

return to normal, Norm Foster’s newest world premiere is the only thing we

know for certain. There will be laughs, there will be comedy, there may even be

a gunshot and a scream!

Candice Turner-Smith

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

01


OUR

FESTIVAL FACTS

FOSTER FESTIVAL FACTS

12,000 Tickets

1000 Volunteer Hours

$2 million Economic Impact

8 World Premieres over 4 seasons

First producer of all future Foster World Premieres

Member of the Professional Association of Canadian

Theatres (PACT)

Fully engaged community partner with Arts Outreach

Programs supporting the Kirsten French Child Advocacy

Centre, the Niagara Children's Centre, Bethlehem

Housing & Support Services, the Ozanam Centre and the

Walker Family Cancer Centre

If laughter is the best medicine,

you will have your measure and more!

- Terry B., St. Catharines, ON

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

02


OUR 2019

SEASON

THE SHOWS

THE ARTISTS

Theatre - Recital Hall, FirstOntario

Performing Arts Centre in

St. Catharines, ON

The Writer - World Premiere

Hilda's Yard - Greatest Hit

Beside Myself - World Premiere

The Writer

Guy Bannerman

Hilda's Yard

Daniel Briere

Amaka Umeh

Darren Keay

Jamie Williams

Norm Foster

Patricia Vanstone

Erin MacKinnon

For the first time, we also offered a

Holiday Family Show! The World

Premiere of Aunt Agnes For

Christmas which played to over

80% houses.

Beside Myself

Breton Lalama

Gabrielle Jones

Griffin Hewitt

Johnathan Whittaker

Visit Niagara and take in The Foster Festival in St. Catharines.

The theatre itself is gorgeous and elegant and the Norm Foster

play was a big treat. We were blown away by the whole

experience. Restaurant options close by were abundant, we

can't wait for the next play!

- Karen K., Toronto, ON

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

03


OUR 2019

FINANCIALS

FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

04


OUR 2019

FINANCIALS

Continued...

In 2019, The Foster Festival changed its fiscal year-end from September

30 to December 31 to better reflect the programming year which now

includes a December offering. Therefore, the 2019 Audited Financial

Statements reflect a 15-month financial year.

This 15 months of financials also explains the 46% increase in 2019

revenues and expenses in comparison to the previous two years.

In 2019 we produced a total of 4 productions including a new Holiday

Family show, Aunt Agnes For Christmas by Norm Foster. The show ran to

80% houses which definitely contributed to a surplus at year-end.

In past seasons what has remained one of the biggest challenges for the

organization is only having one full-time administrative employee

(Executive Director) and one part-time employee (Group Sales Manager)

executing the day to day operations. This meant that during the summer

season, administrative staff were working upwards of 80 hours/week,

creating an environment for staff burnout.

With a desire to amend this staffing challenge, the organization has

taken this time during the COVID-19 shutdown to form a new

restructuring model that can be found on page 10 of this report.

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

05


OUR

IMPACT

According to Statistics Canada, the Live Performing Arts industry in Ontario

generates over $2.5 Billion in direct annual income and leverages more than $12

Billion in additional economic impact.

In 2013, the Niagara Region commissioned an Economic Impact study and found

that the Arts & Culture sector in Niagara has an impact of $565 million.

With the addition of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and The Foster

Festival in downtown St. Catharines in 2016, these numbers have significantly

grown over the last four years.

More than 55% of Ontarians attend plays or musicals every year, with live

performing arts attendance – plays, concerts, dance, etc - outstripping in person

attendance at sporting events.

Since its 2016 inaugural season, The Foster Festival has increased its Economic

Impact from $550,000 to over $2 million. Foster Festival audiences have increased

from 5,000 in 2016 to 12,000 in 2019.

The Professional Association of Canadian Theatres has predicted it will take arts

organizations 3 to 5 years to get back to their pre-COVID earned revenues.

The Arts & Culture industry, however, means more to our communities than just

numbers. It's a way for us to connect to our audiences through laughter, through

storytelling, and through heartfelt shared experiences that we find ourselves

reflecting on long after the final bow. Arts & Culture deepens our connection to

one another and enriches our lives.

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

06


OUR

AUDIENCE

Because we did not see an increase in audience numbers in our summer season

(8,500 in 2018 and same in 2019), our audience demographics have not changed

and the percentages remain the same from year to year.

Our Artist Talk Back Series was again a great success for the Festival. This series

continues to be an attractive perk for our audiences, giving them an opportunity

to interact with our artists and ask questions about the show following a

performance. We hosted twenty-three (23) Artist Talk Backs in 2019.

"Norm Foster's plays are like peeling

an onion. They address layers of

topics such as homosexuality,

homophobia, racism, misogyny,

orphanism, missed opportunities,

teen pregnancy, abandonment,

family breakups, unfaithfullness,

death and yet all interjected with so

much mirth. These are very human

plays with a very realistic plot and a

beautiful message exposed once the

onion is all peeled."

100+km & Canada

30.9%

International

4.5%

Niagara

64.6%

-Wendy K., Hamilton, ON

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

07


OUR

OUTREACH

While our primary function is to deliver top-notch theatre to

audiences from Niagara and beyond, we are wholeheartedly

invested in our community here in St Catharines.

Mayor Sendzik’s challenge to create a #CompassionateSTC resonated deeply and

we have focused our outreach on marginalized populations within our city and

region. Our outreach program, called The Drama Club, continues to meet the

needs of children and youth who experience difficulties in their young lives by

offering extracurricular arts enrichment in partnership with other Not-for-Profits.

Our partnership with the Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre of Niagara

continued to grow and expanded with programming for girls 8 – 11 (Cathy’s Kids).

The Foster Festival offered and led three 12-week sessions for girls who have

experienced abuse. We offered two 6-week sessions of Drama Club at the Niagara

Children’s Centre for children with disabilities.

Our Youth Drama Club program provided over 100 hours of free arts enrichment

throughout the year and contracted more than 20 regional artists in the delivery

of this drama enrichment programming.

Originally funded by a seed grant from the Wise Guys Charity Fund in 2017, The

Foster Festival continues to able to provide complimentary tickets to any Foster

Festival performance to members of our community who may not be able to

attend otherwise due to social or economic disadvantage. Since 2017, over 300

community members have been able to see our shows through our Local Hero

Program. Partnering organizations for this program include Bethlehem Housing

and Support Services, the Ozanam Centre and the Walker family Cancer

Centre.

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

08


OUR BOARD &

KEY PERSONNEL

2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Officers

Glen McCann - Chair

Robin McPherson - Treasurer

Deborah Slade - Vice Chair

Rod Hollick - Secretary

Directors

Tom Arkell

Adam Bornstein

Alison Buchanan

Renata Difilippo

David Hulley

Annalisa Medina

Paddy Parr

Bill Ralph

2019 KEY PERSONNEL

Support Staff

Lou Bradley, Group Sales Manager &

Volunteer Coordinator

Tracy Bush, Lounge Manager

Production Team

David Costello, Production Manager

Pip Bradford, Production Manager

Ryan Mahon, Head Carpenter

Kassidy Noble, Properties & Scenic Painter

Alexa Fraser, Wardrobe & Properties

James McCoy, Wardrobe Coordinator

Aaron Millward, Craftsperson

Whitney Braybrook-Byl, Craftsperson

Creative Team

Patricia Vanstone, Artistic Director

Jim Mezon, Director

Peter Hartwell, Set & Costume Designer

Chris Malkowski, Lighting Designer

Stage Management Team

Carolyn Mackenzie, Stage Manager

Sam Hale, Stage Manager

Barb McLean, Stage Manager

Melanie Coomber, Apprentice SM

Stephen Pike, Apprentice SM

Noa Katz, Apprentice SM

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

09


NEW

STRUCTURE

Our 2020 Season was postponed due to COVID-19. On March 17, 2020, the

Provincial Government of Ontario declared a state of emergency forcing theatres

and arts venues to close their doors across the province. It became noticeably clear

that this state of emergency would not be lifted quickly, so the Board of Directors of

The Foster Festival made the difficult decision to postpone our 2020 Season.

During this time, the organization has taken the opportunity to restructure the

management roles at The Foster Festival. The restructuring model is as follows:

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

10


THANK

YOU

OUR HEARTFELT MEMBERS

Five Hearts

$5,000+

Four Hearts

$2,000-$4,999

Three Hearts

$1,000-$1,999

Emily Oriold

Two Hearts

$500-$999

Lou Bradley

Norm Foster

Patricia Vanstone

Dawn Jacklin

Glen McCann

Annalisa Medina

Allen & Barb McCormick

Catherine Oriold

Deborah Slade

Candice Turner-Smith

Tom Arkell

Edith Bacon

Connie Buis

Sis Bunting-Weld

Marilyn Dickinson

Renata Difilippo

Anne Kemp

Dan & Arthea Lucas

Lisa Matheson

Brian & Paddy Parr

One Heart

$250-$499

Susan Anderson

Ron & Jan Ashenhurst

Carol Baggot-Forte

Adam Bornstein

James Bradley

Alison Buchanan

Raplay Bunting

Kathy & Mike Burtnik

Paul Chapman

Catherine Clarkson

Marnie Collins

Cathy Comerford

Rob & Carolyn Culliton

Carolyn Dittmar

Carman & Jackie Dix

George & Kim Doros

Rosemary Drage Hale

Don & Lois Fretz

Maurice Gomme

Mike Hanson

Barbara Harris

Tony Hayes

Linda Hilko

Rod & Sherrill Hollick

David & Lorraine Hulley

Susan Kelly Kister

John Lefurgey

Ginny Lovelace

Ian MacMillan

Sally Mitchell

Kelly Monoghan

Stacey Mulholland

Wynne Nicholson

Christine Nolan

Carol & George Oriold

Marilyn Pilkington

Leah Pinsent

William Ralph

Fred Ross

Don & Jan Sawyer

Paul Sheppard

Grant & Monica Simmie

Linda Smith

Margo E. Smith

Ross Stuart

Janice Thomson

Richard Wilkinson

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

11


OUR

SUPPORTERS

The Foster Festival would like to say a big THANK YOU to all of our 2019 Sponsors,

Foster Festival Members, and Volunteers who helped make our Festival run so smoothly

and successfully this past season. Our Volunteers went above and beyond last year by

contributing an astounding 1000 volunteer hours to The Foster Festival's 2019 Season

and special events. Bravo!

In 2019, we welcomed back our Founding Sponsor, Meridian Credit Union, who not

only supported our festival with a generous season sponsorship, but also supported

our Youth Drama Club Outreach Program at the Niagara Children's Centre and

supported our 50/50 ticket sales by providing over 20 volunteers to help facilitate those

raffle sales at our performances. The Foster Festival would also like to thank all of the

following 2019 Sponsors for their support!

Founding Sponsor

$15,000+

Presenting Sponsor

$10,000

Season Sponsors

$5,000

Meridian Credit Union Vineland Estates Winery The Farm Wines

Form & Affect

Bridgman & Durksen

Niagara Casinos

Production Sponsors

$2,000

Howick Apartments

Burtnik Printing

Tymbrel

Rankin Construction

Media Sponsors

105.7 EZ Rock

610 CKTB NEWSTALK

YourTV Niagara

Local Hero Sponsors

$500

Hub International

Promus Niagara

Primerica

Lounge Sponsors

Critelli's Furniture

FirstOntario PAC

Outreach Sponsors

Rotary Club of St. Catharines

Rodman Hall Art Centre

Government Support

Canada Summer Jobs

Celebrate Ontario

Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund

St. Catharines Cultural Investment Program

Niagara Investment In Culture Fund

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

12


WE BRING YOU

THIS MESSAGE...

MESSAGE FROM OUR

BOARD CHAIR

2019 was an extraordinarily ambitious year for the Foster Festival and

we met the challenges with the vision and hard work of our dedicated

artistic and administrative team. The Board is extremely proud of the

efforts that everyone made to produce a four show season, including

three world premieres and a Christmas show. And to do so with a

balanced budget. We had hoped that 2020 would have been Trish

Vanstone’s last season as Artistic Director but, of course, that was not to

be. We thank her for her four years of fine work for the Festival.

I think that 2019 was the year that the Festival hit its stride and we will

experience even greater success starting in 2021.

Glen McCann

MESSAGE FROM OUR

PLAYWRIGHT

Dear Cherished Donors, (Is ‘cherished' too pandering or is it not

pandering enough?)

In any event I want to personally thank you for sticking with The Foster

Festival during these uneasy times. I can assure you that I am still

writing. In fact, I’ve got a backlog of ideas that I must get to work on

soon. At this rate, I’ll have to live to be 90 to get them all done. On the

positive side, I'll get to live to be 90.

Believe me, I do appreciate your kindness and your generosity, and

because of you, we are going to come back bigger and better than

ever. I’m already excited about the 2021 season!!

Norm Foster

Best wishes,

Norm Foster

The Foster Festival 2019 Annual Report

13


2019

The Norm Foster Theatre Festival

5 Race Street, Upstairs

St. Catharines, ON

L2R 3M1

info@fosterfestival.com

www.fosterfestival.com

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