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It's So Relieving To Know That You're Leaving As Soon As You Get Paid
We're done, finished, finito, out of there. A group of us hauled away the last vestiges of our two year residence at the Old Space: platforms, drapes, drapery tracks, lighting equipment (and not just the few they set aside, but also the many they "forgot" to pull from their grid and storage room), plus a few miscellaneous items, then gave the place a final cleaning and touch-up before turning in the keys and officially saying "hasta la vista, baybee" (the Company did a formal send-off avec several champaign toasts on Monday evening).
Of course, in situations like this, even now it isn't really "over", because we've left behind some equipment that they're renting from us for a few months, and there's the matter of getting our rent deposit back and whatnot, but these don't involve us actually having to deal with anyone in person, which has become, well, increasingly frustrating over time, to put it in the nicest way possible.
Now, the kids running the show for our little theatre company are a pretty amazing crew, if I do say so. They're smart, dedicated, and incredibly organized, just to cite a few of their better qualities, and so it's been disheartening for me personally to witness what several of them have had to endure in the course of this troubled relationship. I've seen people with wills of steel brought to tears; people with the patience of saints brought to the edge of physical violence; friends lash out at friends in anger and frustration; and people who love and cherish their creative capacities taken to the point of wanting to just chuck all of that right out the window. Which was not at all something they deserved, and certainly not what we envisioned when we all decided to embark on this travail oh so many months ago.
I'm not going to dish dirt here, because, well, what would be the point? It won't heal the wounds that have been opened up in the past two years, and it won't salve any of the unpleasant feelings that have been left in the wake of this relationship. But by the same token it's important to acknowledge the considerable toll all this took on a group of people whom I so greatly respect, admire, and yes, even love, for many reasons, not the least of which because they themselves worked so hard to avoid exactly this sort of dysfunctionality from the very beginning.
So, let's just say that all of us are glad to put this chapter of our institutional life behind us, and look forward to a fresh start in a new space that allows us a decidedly greater measure of control over our own destiny.
The Stellner Theater and Stetson Gallery are dead.
Long Live The Stellner Theatre and Stetson Gallery!Labels: Annex, CHAC, New Space, Theatre
Posted byCOMTE
on 10:06 AM
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