Posted: February 28, 2021.
This notice provides an update on Act One Winter and Summer 2021 programs.
For 2020-21, due to Act One's desire to re-start when we were confident we could do so successfully, the start of the Fall Term was delayed from September to November. This also meant we had to push back the start of the Winter Term. Initially, prior to the recent lockdown, the Winter Term was scheduled to begin the first week of March. As a result of the lockdown limiting the students’ end of Fall Term final preparations, it has been necessary to further extend the Fall Term by a couple more weeks to allow Fall Term students the best opportunity for success in their Fall Term performances.
Given that different classes have different final rehearsal requirements, the duration of the Fall Term extension will vary class-by-class. This also means that the Winter Term start date for each class may vary. Regardless of when the Winter Term starts, all classes will receive the equivalent of 14 weeks instruction over the full Winter Term.
The Winter Term start dates for each class will now be as follows:
All Winter Term classes will be in-person, here at the school facility, as long as health regulations and local circumstances permit this to take place safely.
For more information on the classes that are running, please visit the Classes page.
Winter Term Registration is currently available via the following link: On-Line Class Registration Form
Please note that due to COVID safety precautions, class sizes have been reduced this year. This means the number of available spots for new Winter Term students is also much more limited.
Winter Term Registration Deadline: Given the delayed start, we can only allow new Winter Term students to miss the first class of the term. This means that the effective deadline for Winter Term registration for each class is the date of its second class of the Winter Term.
Since Durham Region returned to the Red Zone recently, Act One has resumed in-person classes for all its programs, with the exception of Improvisation. Improvisation remained on-line primarily because their end of term performance was specifically geared towards the on-line format and returning to in-person classes would not benefit the students’ final show preparations. Improvisation will return to in-person class with the start of the Winter Term.
For in-person classes, Act One has resumed the COVID safety protocols it successfully put in place prior to the recent lockdown. For those wishing to refresh their memories of what these entail, you can find all relevant information here: COVID-19 safety protocols.
For 2021, to align with the province postponing March Break until April, Act One will also be moving its “March Break” camp until the week of Monday, April 12th to Friday, April 16th. If health guidelines and local circumstances permit, Act One is planning to offer a drama camp program for that week.
It will be adapted for the current pandemic environment, with key details as follows:
The school website should be updated with all the details within the next week or so.
We have received a number of inquiries regarding whether or not the school will be offering a theatre summer camp program again this summer. The simple answer is, yes, assuming that health regulations and local conditions permit, Act One fully intends to offer a summer program.
Unfortunately, at the present time, given how everything is still in flux and can change quickly, it is pretty much impossible to guarantee the format of any such activity with any degree of confidence.
We realize that many families may be starting to look that far ahead for summer planning purposes. At the same time, we do not want to make any promises we may not be able to keep or potentially cause families to have a false sense of security by registering for a program we are not sure we can run. We are hoping that by end of end of March, longer-term conditions and trends will have become clear enough for us to identify with some degree of confidence if a summer program is feasible and under what shape and format.
We will definitely be sending out updates just as soon as we have any information of value. If anyone would like to be put on a dedicated mailing list for when registration may be available, please contact the school.
If anyone wishes to discuss the above or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact the school.
My instructors and I wish everyone a safe and successful journey through the rest of the Winter season and into the Spring.
Sincerely,
Mark Nathanielsz
Owner/Artisitic Director