The Foster Festival refers to Shawn Rahbarian, owner of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Hypnotic Hair Lounge, and Christos Rigas of the Old Firehall Restaurant, as two of its Local Heroes.
They’re both sponsors of the arts organization’s heroes program that provides free access to Foster Festival plays to those otherwise unable to attend due to social or economic barriers.
“Community is an important part of any theatre,” says Jamie Williams, the festival’s artistic associate, “that sense of the community being a part of a theatre. And the community is much larger than just the people we imagine that go to the theatre.”
The Foster Festival, based in St. Catharines, is dedicated to presenting and helping to develop the plays of New Brunswick resident Norm Foster, one of Canada’s most beloved and most often produced playwrights.
The former radio announcer’s plays are renowned for their ability to shine a spotlight on regular life with a combination of comedic and serious moments. His characters are often relatable, everyday people interacting with friends and family members, each discovering something about themselves and in turn, about each other in the process.
“He really writes stories that we all can identify with, across the board,” says Williams. “He deals with general issues, whether it’s getting old, or facing death, or looking at a second time around with relationships. These aren’t exclusive to any social demographic, or even any age demographic.”
Of course, it costs money to produce a play. There’s the rental of the performance space, the cost of promotion, the salaries of the professional performers, the copyright costs of the material and so on. A not-for-profit professional theatre company, the Foster Festival needs to cover these expenses. It all adds up.
“The live arts are not necessarily accessible, cost-wise, to a portion of our community,” Williams explains. “Our prices, at $42 including tax, are inexpensive comparatively speaking. But still, for a portion of our audience, whether it’s seniors, or people experiencing economic hardships, $42 can make a significant difference in a weekly budget.”
So the Foster Festival has joined with Bethlehem Housing and Support Services, the Walker Family Cancer Centre, Pelham Cares, Project Share and Community Living St. Catharines to make seats available to their clients for the Foster plays Outlaw (on now until July 2 at the Century Barn at Ball’s Falls Historic Village), and Jenny’s House of Joy (Aug. 9 to 20 at Ridley College’s Mandeville Theatre).
“We make the tickets available to those agencies for them to distribute to their clientele,” Williams says. “For instance, Bethlehem Housing and Support Services have a direct line to their clients. And with the Walker Family Cancer Centre, we felt with what people are going through there, perhaps they can step out for a couple of hours and forget about things, have a communal experience where laughter is involved.”
Those who have seen Foster’s plays know that it’s difficult to walk out of one without reflecting upon how much one has laughed during the proceedings. For someone who is experiencing hardship on a daily basis, that experience can have a major positive effect.
“And there’s been studies done,” Williams says, “that have found that when an audience gets together for a live theatrical event, their heartbeats synchronize. They’re watching the same story in the same space, the pace of the story seems to allow them to sync up. It’s an interesting symbol about how connections are made. It creates a sense of communal well-being.”
The Local spoke to Greg Lewis, president of Pelham Cares, a food bank and social services agency serving that community. Lewis had already had a chance to distribute tickets to some of the organization’s clients.
“We were excited to have a chance to offer them this opportunity,” Lewis affirmed. “It’s not the usual thing someone might expect when they visit a place like Pelham Cares. But we thought it would be a great way to bring some joy and sunshine into their day.”
The festival’s Local Hero program was actually begun by its artistic director Emily Oriold prior to the pandemic. With the number of people still experiencing food insecurity and other issues that were exacerbated by COVID-19, Oriold felt the time was right to bring the program back.
Rahbarian and Rigas were two of the first sponsors to support the relaunch of the initiative. They each donated $250 that will make four tickets available to one of the partner agencies. Those agencies can then present the tickets to two families of four for them to enjoy one of the Foster Festival’s upcoming performances.
Williams’ goal is to line up 100 Local Heroes, bringing laughter to 400 people who are using the services of the five partner agencies. Recently, Meridian Credit Union stepped up as the title sponsor for the community-minded program.
“If we can meet that target,” Williams adds, “we may be able to facilitate transportation, too. For some of the clients, just getting to the theatre can be an issue. It would be great to be able to grow the program to a reasonable size where we can help shuttle people to the theatre and back.”
For Rahbarian, who recently also opened the York Road Barber Shop, giving to the program was something he couldn’t turn down.
“I feel like everybody deserves to have a little taste of that joy,” he says of those who may benefit from his donation, “even in their worst of times. Personally, I think if you can help, you should. In the end, the money that I gave doesn’t change anything in my life, but it will change something in someone else’s life.”
And in tough times, adds Williams, it’s important for the clients of those five non-profits to feel that they are a part of their community.
“It’s about a sense of belonging,” Williams says. “When people don’t have access to the culture of a community, then they stand outside of it. When you bring them in, that has an impact on their sense of belonging. That’s not a small thing. That can be a really significant moment for them.”
