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\u00a0MEDIA<\/span>\u00a0RELEASE<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Wednesday, August 29th<\/sup>, 2023<\/p>\n For Immediate\u00a0Release<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n TheatreOne\u2019s Fringe Flicks program comes to an end<\/b><\/p>\n For more than 25 years, TheatreOne has offered our exciting and vibrant Fringe Flicks series as a fundraiser for our live performance programming.\u00a0 Recently, our audience numbers for this program have dwindled significantly, while at the same time, our costs to rent the theatre, acquire the films, and promote these screenings have increased. Ultimately, lost revenue from what was supposed to be a fundraiser has become our organization\u2019s largest financial liability.\u00a0 In a post pandemic world that now has wide, easy, and inexpensive movie streaming options, the Fringe Flicks program is simply no longer sustainable for our organization.<\/p>\n At the recommendation of our Artistic Director and new Executive Director, the TheatreOne\u00a0Board of\u00a0Directors has decided to discontinue Fringe Flicks\u00a0for the time being. Although we have agonized over this decision, we feel\u00a0it is the right one, as we need to focus on our mission of connecting Nanaimo audiences to quality live theatre \u2013 in essence, theatre which can \u201cmove hearts and minds.\u201d<\/p>\n TheatreOne Artistic\u00a0Director, David Mann comments: “Cancellation\u00a0of Fringe Flicks is certainly a sad event for me, as well as for the\u00a0loyal core audience of the series. When\u00a0we introduced it over two decades\u00a0ago,\u00a0Fringe Flicks was a valuable program which provided an opportunity to enjoy alternative,\u00a0newly-release<\/span>d films in a communal, big-screen setting. For years the series\u00a0was popular\u00a0and fulfilled its role as a fundraiser\u00a0which\u00a0supported the core live performance activities of TheatreOne, but unfortunately times change, and recently the series has become an unsustainable drain on our financial and human resources.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While Fringe Flicks will no longer be available,\u00a0we are\u00a0very\u00a0excited\u00a0by our upcoming\u00a0season of live professional performances,\u00a0which will be announced soon. We hope that you will join us as we make our first forays into returning to producing shows for our audiences,\u00a0as well as bringing outstanding theatre experiences to Nanaimo from outside our community.<\/p>\n Graham Pike, TheatreOne\u2019s Interim President of the Board of Directors adds, \u201cRegrettable as it is, the cancellation of Fringe Flicks will enable us to devote more resources to the core mission of TheatreOne: to \u2018move hearts and minds\u2019 through outstanding professional theatre. We\u2019re looking forward to a stimulating season of productions and presentations in our three programs (Mainstage, Emerging Voices, and Just Kidding) \u2013 that will provide entertainment and enlightenment for all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n TheatreOne has been bringing professional theatre Nanaimo and the mid-Island for 40 years. We engage diverse local audiences of all ages and persuasions, including the very young, and in doing so support theatre professionals\u00a0and\u00a0local\u00a0businesses. We work with playwrights from BC and across Canada to foster development of new Canadian works, we premier new productions, and through our support to touring artists we give Nanaimo audiences access to great theatre developed elsewhere.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n