Neptune Theatre reopening, announces fall lineup

Calling it "Act One," Neptune Theatre in Halifax has announced it is reopening, with plans to stage four productions in the coming months.

A year and a halfafter the first shutdown and after planning for 2020 Christmas productions, only to close down again after cases rose last Novemberartistic director Jeremy Webb said he has a degree of optimism.

"We've managed to survive during the pandemic thus far by doing anything and everything we can, so to at last be talking about actual plays and full productions is so wonderful and daunting and scary, all at the same time," he said.

The first performance of comedyFully Committed is scheduled to run for four weeks starting Sept. 14 and it will be followed by the The Woman in Black on Oct. 19. A horror story, it will run until mid-November.

Smaller audiences for now

This summer, the theatre hosted concerts with 100 people in the audience. Thereduced audience numbers will be in place for the first two shows inFountain Hall, which can accommodate 450 people.

The hope is capacity will be higher for the two holiday shows, Alice in Pantoland and A Christmas Carol, Webb said.

He said rehearsals have not been impacted by COVID-19,beyond that they're a bit longer to ease the transition for actors who are transitioning back into their industry after 18 months.

Normally, the fall slate of showswould be announced more than six months in advance. Webb said staff have putting plans in place and watching the COVID-19 situation behind the scenes.

Auditions for the second fall show are ongoing.

"We're basically doing everything as late as humanly possible," Webb said.

He said a large musical production with dozens of cast members is "financially impractical" at the moment, but the plan is to build up to larger productions.

In October, If all goes well, the theatre plans to announce its four "Act Two" productions that will start in January.

Beyond being masked and physically distanced, Webb said the experience for people in the audience won't change.

"You're still going to see a comedy, you're still going to get a thriller, you're still going to be excited and have that theatrical experience you've been missing."

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