Act One Update

This notice provides an update on Act One's plans for classes in June 2021, its 2021 Theatre Summer Camp programs, announces the launch of the school's new, completely redesigned Student Gallery section of the Act One website, as well as the availability of all the 2021 Winter Cabaret student performance videos.

Impact of Ontario Government 3-Stage Re-opening Plan:

Last week the Ontario government announced their staged plan for re-opening the province. We are now able to advise how we believe this plan affects Act One June classes and upcoming July/August Theatre Summer Camps.

As with past announcements, organizations such as Act One tend to fall into grey areas and thus it can initially be unclear as to where the school’s programs fall. After investigating and reviewing things, it appears that Act One classes again, as in the summer of 2020, align with the day camp criteria. This means that we are extremely happy to announce that we can resume in-person classes, as of Tuesday, June 15th and we are again able to offer four (4) two-week theatre summer camp sessions this summer.

Given the 3-stage reopening format, it does however mean that all our programs will have to adhere to the relevant guidelines outlined in each stage. Act One programs will need to be modified to ensure this alignment. It also means that Act One July Theatre Summer Camp sessions will likely differ from those in August, as it appears that July will be under Stage 1 or 2 and August likely under Stage 2 or 3.

Details on the specific impacts can be found in the relevant Classes and/or Camp sections below.

June 2021 Classes Update:

In line with Stage 1 of the provincial re-opening plan, Act One classes can resume in-person instruction as of Tuesday, June 15th. From that point onward, all remaining classes for 2020/21 courses will be in-person. Act One will continue with on-line sessions prior to that date. Current scheduling calls for all classes to end no later than June 30th.

All previous COVID safety and health protocols will again be in effect for these classes. You can find these details below for those who can not remember what they all were.

While later than we had hoped, Act One and its staff still aim to provide all students with the opportunity for some form of year end live performance. Given the more limited in-person June time frame we are now facing (initial hopes had been for a June 3rd start date), we may have to scale back what format these live performances take, but we still feel this is more beneficial for the students than another on-line performance experience.

Unless an individual class is able to extend a week or two into July, all students and their families should plan for their year end performance date to be during the period of Thursday, June 24th to Wednesday June 30th. At this point, while likely, we can not guarantee that the performance will be on the actual class date, only that it will be during this period. More information will be provided in early June.

The one exception to the above is the On Camera classes. As they will be filming their class short films during these final two weeks and we will require a couple of weeks for editing after filming is wrapped, a final event for these two classes will have to be TBD at this point. We made this decision because we felt it much more important to give them maximum flexibility in filming, rather than rushing everything to hit an artificial end of June film screening deadline.

Live audiences are still not permitted, so all year end performances will be video-taped again, like the Winter Cabaret was. Performance videos will also be made available for on-line streaming on the school website’s new Student Gallery section and as show discs. Given that the gallery functionality is now complete, I do not envision it taking nearly as long for the year end videos to be made available.

In the coming week, we will be sending out class-specific follow-up e-mails with more details and potential options for each individual class.

2021 Winter Cabaret Videos:

I am happy to announce that the student performance videos from the 2021 Winter Cabaret are now available. This includes all stage and musical theatre performances, the two on-line Improv shows and the two On Camera short films.

These will be available in two formats: On-line streaming and show discs (blu-ray or DVD). On-line streaming is available immediately. The show discs will be available to all students upon their return to in-person classes, later in June.

To view and stream any of the 2021 Winter Cabaret videos please visit the new Act One Student Gallery section of the school website.

Each student who participated in the 2021 Winter Cabaret is also entitled to one free copy of the Winter Cabaret show disc. It can be either DVD or blu-ray format (student preference). Any students who wish additional copies can request them at a cost of $4/DVD and $5/blu-ray. For those Fall Term students who were unable to continue into the Winter Term, please contact the school to make arrangements to collect your show disc.

I apologize for the delay in making these performance videos available. A large part of the delay was due to the complete redesign of the Student Gallery section of the school’s website. The project ended up being a lot more involved and complex than initially anticipated and consumed a lot more time than planned. While the delay is disappointing, the reason I stuck with it is that I felt, with the students being deprived of the rewards of a live audience experience when performing, the least I could do to acknowledge all their work was to make every effort to allow them to present their performances in as visually professional a manner as possible.

2021 Theatre Summer Camp:
Act One is excited to again be able to offer a Theatre Summer Camp program this summer. As in pre-pandemic years, we will be offering four 2-week sessions. These will be:
• Session I: July 5th to 16th
• Session II: July 19th to 30th
• Session III: August 3rd to 13th
• Session IV: August 16th to 27th


On-line registration and camp details are now available via the Camp section of the Act One school website
All sessions will require some common modification for the health safety of campers and staff, as well as to align with the relevant re-opening stage guidelines. At the present time, it appears that July will almost certainly be at least Stage 1, with a strong possibility of being at Stage 2, while August should be at least Stage 2 and hopefully Stage 3. This means that July camp sessions likely will also differ in some important ways from those offered in August.
While these may change, depending upon the actual implementation of the three re-opening stages over the next few months, at present these key changes for 2021 are anticipated to be:
1. Common changes for all four camp sessions:
   • Camp sessions will all be held at the Act One School location (as all City of Pickering locations, such as Greenwood, are remaining closed to third party use for all of this coming summer).
   • In recognition that the camps will be at the school facility, Act One has finally been successful at identifying a plan that will allow us to invest in air conditioning at the school facility. This should be in place before the first session in July. While initially contributing to the comfort of all 2021 campers (and potentially any August show guests), in the long term it will also benefit students and their audiences in future June classes and live shows.
   • Camp programs will again be adapted for physical distancing and mask requirements, as well as other required Durham Region health protocols. More details will be available soon but they likley will mirror most of what Act One implemented last summer.
2. Important changes for July sessions (I & II):
   • Session Capacity: 14 campers
   • Session Ages Range: 9-14.
   • Camper Performances: Video-taped only. No live audience
3. Important changes for August sessions (III & IV):
   • Session Capacity: 21 campers
   • Session Ages Range: 7-14.
   • Camper Performances: Limited live audience (ie 1-2 guests per camper – if in Stage 3). Video-taped only (No live audience – if still in Stage 2)
Re-designed Student Gallery Section Of School Website:
Act One is excited to announce that it has updated its Student Gallery section to enable on-line video streaming for all student performance recordings.
This redesign was undertaken in recognition that on-line viewing is replacing DVD and blu-ray as the main means of viewing video. It will also give current and previous Act One students and campers a more professional looking viewing platform, that both honours all their work, dedication and enthusiasm, and provides their families and friends with an easily accessible option for celebrating and reliving those moments.
Given the very large Act One back catalogue of student and camper performance videos (over 400 separate or combined event clips), it will unfortunately take a while for me to bring everything on-line. I have started with a few select items and plan to add a few more items every week or two. When I reach significant new content milestones, I will send out e-mail updates to any current or previous members of the Act One family who may find them of interest.
Initially, the following sections are currently available in the new Student Gallery:
• The 2021 Winter Cabaret student performances
• The library of On Camera short films from 2021 back to 2017
• The library of Theatre Summer Camp short films from 2020 back to 2016
COVID Guidelines and Procedures Reminder for June 2021 Classes:
In accordance with Durham Region Health guidelines and to do its part to keep its teaching staff, students and their extended families safe as this pandemic hopefully enters its final months, Act One will continue with its previously implemented safety protocols for both its remaining 2020/21 classes and upcoming 2021 Theatre Summer Camp sessions. While it is impossible to guarantee 100% effectiveness, Act One is confident that these measures, in combination with current vaccination efforts, represent an effective and reasonable approach to balancing health and safety while maintaining a positive drama experience.
We hope the details below help current students and their families feel comfortable and safe with the planned resumption on in-person classes in June.
• General Guidelines:
  • Class Size: No class will have more than 10 combined students and instructor(s). The only exception to this is Musical Theatre, which will be allowed a maximum of 12. Only one class will operate in the school at one time. Keeping the maximum limit to 10-12 allows Act One to have the flexibility to offer up to 8ft of physical distancing between participants.
  • Student Arrival: Classes will be scheduled to allow for a dedicated 5 minutes (first 5 minutes of the class time) for students in that class to arrive. This will minimize any chance of students congregating in reception prior to class start. Students can walk straight into the main studio upon arrival.
  • Student Exit: The last 5 minutes at the end of the class will be reserved for students in that class to be able to leave safely. Students will be directed by their instructor to exit in staggered, single file. This is to ensure physical distancing between students and minimal interaction in reception.
  • Main Studio Access:
    • Only the instructor(s) and students in the current class are permitted in the main studio.
    • No parents, guardians or non-students are permitted studio entry. If anyone does need to talk the instructor, they must wait until the instructor has an opportunity to come out into reception or outside in front of the school.
    • All those entering the main studio will be required to be wearing a mask.
    • Once in the main studio, participants may be allowed to remove their masks, at instructor discretion. This is dependent upon the activity taking place at the time and/or being able to ensure suitable physical distancing can be maintained.
    • Students must keep their masks on their person at all times, if/when the instructor deems it necessary for them to put them back on for any reason.
  • Reception Area Access:
    • Anyone entering the reception area of the school will be required to wear a mask. This includes students, instructors and parents, etc.
    • Masks must be worn at all times when in reception.
    • Act One’s reception area has four designated “waiting zones”.
    • Maximum capacity of the reception area is twelve persons, with a maximum of 10 students and other guests and up to 2 school staff.
    • Two “zones” have a two-person limit and the other two a maximum of three.
    • Only persons in the same social circle can be in the same zone. For the purposes of Act One, social circle refers to anyone designated by the student’s parent or guardian as safe to be together. This can be extended family, family friends or students who attend the class together, etc.
  • Short-Term (less than 5 mins) Reception Area Access:
    • When possible, students are asked to wait in their family car until the start of their class.
    • Entrance to the reception area is open to all students participating in the upcoming and current class and anyone accompanying the student(s), as long as one of the four following conditions apply:
      1. The student(s) will be proceeding directly into the main studio for their class.
      2. Those accompanying the student will be remaining in reception for less than 5 minutes.
      3. The class is over, and the student will be picked up within 5 minutes of end of class.
      4. Anyone picking up a student will be in reception for less than 5 minutes.
  • Long-Term (more than 5 mins) Reception Area Access:
    • Anyone, student or other, who does not fit one of the above four conditions will be required to arrange for and obtain prior permission from the school to stay in reception for longer than 5 minutes before or at the end of class.
    • The request can be via e-mail or phone conversation. Voice and e-mail messages unanswered by the school cannot be considered permission. The requestor must have received prior direct permission from Act One.
    • As Act One’s reception only has four “waiting zones”, we can only accommodate up to four simultaneous long-term requests. All others will either have to wait outside in front of the school or in their cars.
  • In-Class Procedures for Students:
    • Prior to the start of each class, instructors will set up enough physically distanced chairs, with individual student name labels on each, so that arriving students can go directly to their assigned chair when they enter. Students will be required to stay in “their” chair until the instructor indicates otherwise, unless they need the washroom, etc (which will require instructor permission to avoid any chance of students crossing paths).
    • All students will be required to use the provided hand sanitizer prior to taking their seat and starting class activities. Hand washing and sanitization breaks will be scheduled throughout the class by the instructors based on need and specific class activities.
    • Once the class is over, the instructor for the just finished class will fold up and put aside all chairs from that class in a “quarantine” area. New chairs will be set up for the next class. Used chairs will be disinfected before they are reused.
    • All in-class activities will be adapted for physical distancing or eliminated if this is not possible in a reasonable manner. This includes games, exercises and performance staging/blocking.
    • If physical props or costume pieces, are required at any time during a class, each item will be assigned to a specific student and unavailable to any other student in that class for the rest of the class duration. In the rare case where a prop must be handled by multiple students, this will only happen if adequate sanitization of the item or students’ hands is feasible.
  • Washroom Procedures for Students and Guests:
    • Washroom use will require prior instructor/school staff permission to make sure we are aware of when they are used.
    • Paper towels are available for those who do not wish to come into direct contact with any common washroom touch points.
    • Anyone using one of the washrooms will be expected to wash their hands before exiting and then use the hand sanitizer provided outside the washroom locations before resuming other activities.
• COVID Screening:
  • Contact Tracing: All non-student visitors entering the Act One facility should be aware that their name and contact information must be recorded, if they will be remaining for more than 5 minutes. This is to align with Durham Region contact tracing requirements.
  • Temperature Checking:
    • All students will be required to have their temperature checked (via the school’s non-contact scanner) by the instructor or school staff, prior to entering the main studio.
    • Any student with a reading of 37.8 degrees Celsius or higher, cannot be allowed to enter the main studio. (FYI – 38 degrees Celsius is considered an almost certain indicator of a fever). If a student does read 37.8 or above, they can opt to wait 5 minutes and be retested. This is to acknowledge that immediate environmental factors may contribute to a temporary rise in body temperature. If on the second try, they test below 37.8 degrees C they can be admitted. If they test above for the second time, they must be sent home. No third test will be allowed.
    • Failed tests do not impact the next class. The student will have the opportunity to be retested on that day.
  • Health Declarations:
    • Durham Region health guidelines also recommend, for safety reasons, that organizations such as Act One receive explicit weekly confirmation from parents, that to the best of their knowledge, their child has not demonstrated or come into contact with anyone exhibiting coronavirus symptoms.
    • Before each class, parents will be asked to provide such a declaration.
    • This declaration can be provided by signing the class declaration form, available in reception, when dropping their child off or by sending in an e-mail declaration.
    • A generic e-mail form will be sent to all families before each class, to allow them to simply and easily send it each week.
  • Designated Student “Drama Bubble”:
    • For safety reasons, in general, all students not living in the same household will be required to maintain physical distancing at all times.
    • Act One does recognize however that many students who are friends attend classes together and that families may permit the students to carpool and do other activities, such as Act One classes, together.
    • To allow for this in Act One classes, parents have the option of providing a one-time waiver indicating that they allow their child to join a “drama bubble”, consisting of two or more students in the same class.
    • This declaration must be signed or received from the parents or guardians of ALL the students who wish to be part of the bubble.
    • A “drama bubble” allows Act One instructors to treat all students within it as it they live in the same household and thus do not have to worry about any physical distancing, etc amongst themselves.
    • Students in a drama bubble would still need to adhere to all safety procedures when interacting with the instructor and any other students in the class outside of their bubble.
  • Mask Usage Policy:
    • Durham Region Department of Health general COVID-19 guidelines continue to require mask usage in all indoor “public” venues, with certain specific exemptions.
    • One of these exemptions may apply to any school, camp or other organization that provides children’s activities.
    • The exemption is based on the organization’s ability to control social interaction in a “private” (ie the ability to restrict and supervise who shares a space) vs “public” (open to anyone) environment. This is why masks are mandatory in stores, where even though capacity is monitored, the actual individuals constantly change. Organizations, such as Act One, that are able to restrict and control access to an area to a specific “cohort” and ensure no interaction with other cohorts, can consider that area to be “private”.
    • This is why masks are required in Act One’s reception area (where we cannot necessarily control who enters and thus is “public”) but fall under the exemption in the main studio (where we have implemented strict access requirements, in order to allow it to be deemed “private”).
    • Being designated “private” and exempt from the mandatory mask requirement also does not mean that an organization can ignore physical distancing and other recommendations. In fact, being designated “private”, by itself, is not sufficient justification for relaxed mask usage. It merely means that if a “private” activity can be undertaken in a safe, physically distanced manner and addresses all relevant guidelines, then mask usage can be more situational and flexible.
    • In Act One’s case, the benefit of these exemption allows us the opportunity to balance mask usage with its impact on the students. It is not absolute however and is still conditional on the degree to which we can ensure social distancing and other relevant measures throughout the class duration.
    • Act One instructors will take the above factors into consideration regarding decisions surrounding required mask usage in each specific class, at any point in time.
  • COVID-19 Infection Procedures:
    • Should any Act One student or staff test positive for COVID-19, Act One will immediately notify all students and their families in all classes.
    • Act One will notify the Durham Region Medical Authority to advise them of this occurrence and to request additional information as to what next steps to follow.
    • The school will be closed to all operations for at least 48 hours to allow for cleaning and disinfection of the facility, as well as allow time to learn the result of any follow-up contact tracing.
    • No instructor, school staff, student or parent or guardian who tests positive for coronavirus will be allowed to reenter the school until they can provide proof of receiving a negative result from an official COVID-19 testing facility.

If anyone wishes to discuss the above or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

My instructors and I look forward to seeing all the students again, in-person, in a couple of weeks and wish everyone a safe and enjoyable summer season as we hopefully enter into the final phase of the pandemic.

Sincerely,

Mark Nathanielsz

Owner/Artisitic Director