Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Theatregoers attending Stratford Festival performances Tuesday found themselves waiting a little longer at the doors while Festival officials beefed up security following bomb threats made a a day earlier.
Monday’s opening night of the 2018 season was cancelled after police evacuated the Festival Theatre over an “explosive threat” it received shortly before 7 p.m. – only minutes away before actors were to take the stage. Monday’s bomb threat forced Festival organizers to cancel an opening night for the first time in the Stratford Festival’s 65 years of performances.
A thorough search of both the Avon and Festival theatres was completed at around 4 a.m. Tuesday, and no suspicious items or packages were found, police said.
But private security hired by the Festival was on site at the Avon and Studio theatres Tuesday afternoon, checking bags as ticket-holders arrived at the buildings. They were also monitoring all people who entered and left the theatres, including staff and volunteers.
A number of Stratford police officers were also on site providing help.
The increased security measures will remain in place at the Festvial’s theatres for the foreseeable future to ensure patrons feel safe and know they are protected, said Antoni Cimolino, the Festival’s artistic director.
“We are going to make sure people are safe until such time as we better understand what the nature of the threat was,” he said. “… Every indication so far is that this was a hoax, but we have to continue to behave in a way that makes people not only safe but feel safe.”
Festival officials sent out a communication earlier Tuesday asking people to avoid bringing purses and bags to the theatres to speed up access, as well as arriving at least 30 minutes before the start of the shows and avoiding leaving the building during intervals.
Yet the new measures were causing some delays and lineups started to form outside the Avon Theatre as people arrived.
Theatregoers, however, didn’t seem to mind the extra step of having their bags checked.
“I’d rather have security measures than something happening, and I feel like they are really not that invasive,” said 19-year-old Alexandria Miller, who came to the Festival from Michigan. “We do it at the airport. We do it at big museums, and this isn’t really that different.”
Dundas resident Marnie Griffin, a regular at the Stratford Festival, echoed that opinion.
“It’s the smart thing to do,” she said. “They are taking care of their audience and it’s definitely the way to go.”
After securing both theatres Tuesday morning, Stratford police shifted its focus and began a criminal investigation into the incident, said acting deputy Chief Sam Theocharis
He confirmed there were no suspects or active leads as of Tuesday afternoon.
Despite Monday’s scare, Cimolino said all performances, including the six productions opening this week, were going to continue as scheduled. As for a rescheduled opening night for The Tempest, the Festival was still working on setting a new date but nothing had been confirmed.
He said people’s feedback thus far had been very positive and that Monday’s incident hadn’t affected tickets sale at all.
Yet Cimolino also admitted to being saddened by the whole situation
“This is a reality in Paris, in New York City, in London, and we had never been in that situation,” he said.
“It’s sad because this is an attack by whoever made this phone call against our ability to come together as a community and enjoy the arts . . . but the show will go on.”
By Jonathan Juha for www.stratfordbeaconherald.com
Photo: Police evacuated Festival Theatre on opening night. ©2018 Stratford Beacon Herald.
2018-05-29
Stratford: Heightened security at Stratford Festival after opening night bomb scare