A hiatus and a thank you

Photo by Derek Ford at the Intrepid Theatre Fringe preview in Centennial Square August 2017

Thank you dear readers for your attention to this website.  Many of you will have noticed that the last article was dated September 23, 2018.

I hit “pause” after almost a decade of following and writing about a community I love more than words could ever convey. Stay tuned for more news about the next chapter and thank you for reading.  This website began as a way of aggregating various posts on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms and grew, like Topsy, to become what it is today.  It has been my privilege and pleasure to be involved in the theatre community–first as an audience member, then volunteer, and finally, writer and reviewer. My tentative attempts at playwrighting and performance have been encouraged too and I am deeply grateful.

Last fall I retired and moved to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.  I have focused on other volunteer projects in the past year.

Below is the speech given at a going-away party I hosted for the arts community before leaving.

Thank you. For over a decade you have, collectively, inspired, moved, and challenged me—causing me to carefully reconsider my frameworks and points of view.

You have lifted me up, made my soul sing and been my solace in some of my darkest moments. You have cheered my writing and applauded my own tentative performance efforts.

What began because I wanted to be a “Mom by proxy” rather than a “stage mom” grew, like Topsy, to encompass, after assurances to the contrary, reviewing—with much trepidation.

I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of seeing careers and companies launched, and of sharing my love of the arts—particularly theatre–with people far and wide (thanks Twitter!).

You’ve allowed me to tag along, shared secrets and made me part of your inner circles—something I do not take for granted.

I’ve connected with others who also share my passion—a bevy of fellow volunteers, audience members and, especially Fringe fanatics and Fringe heroes.

Victoria is home to an incredible array of artists, a burgeoning arts scene that must be lived to be truly appreciated. I know I’ve been at the centre of something very special.  In years to come, when people elsewhere finally understand the breadth and depth of creative expression birthed here, they’ll call it “the golden age” and we’ll be able to say “we were there when!”

For now, we bid adieu, retiring to a smaller, quieter up-Island community.  Thank you to my ever-supportive husband Frans Jonker who had no idea what he was in for when we met in 2010.  He’s been a “theatre widower” for much of this time.

I look forward to reading about your future artistic endeavours and wish you, as always, the very best—grants awarded, perceptive audiences, wonderful partnerships and ideas that flow as readily as the waters surrounding our island home.

Thank you for everything.

Please continue to engage with the local arts scene.  Your participation is vital.