VIU Launches Campaign for Much Needed Theatre Upgrades

Vancouver Island University’s (VIU) Malaspina Theatre is turning 40 this year and like many aging celebrities it’s starting to show its age. After four decades and thousands of community and student performances, rehearsals and events, the creaks and groans can no longer be ignored.

“Our 294 seat venue is in critical need of upgrades and improvements. There’s just no getting around it. We owe it not just to theatre goers but to all of the artists who work so hard to brighten our lives and inspire us. They deserve to perform in a venue that adds to the performance, and doesn’t detract from it,” said VIU Theatre Chair Leon Potter. “With community support I know we can create a space that will continue to provide exhilarating experiences to theatre goers for another 40 years.”

In order to get the extensive work completed that is required a fundraising campaign called Encore has been launched to raise $220,000 to replace the theatre seats that are long past their prime, upgrade technology and freshen up the lobby area.

The Encore campaign offers individuals and organizations the opportunity to sponsor new seats in Malaspina Theatre, with the names of donors recognized by customized plaques on the seats and on a donor wall in the theatre lobby. To kick things off, the VIU Alumni Association donated $5,000 to sponsor a VIU Alumni row of seats.

Potter says Malaspina Theatre at VIU has been home to so much more than just the Drama Department at the University. Many local arts groups such as TheatreOne, Crimson Coast Dance, the Vancouver Island Short Film Festival, Helix, Bard to Broadway and many more have used the theatre as a ‘mid-size venue’ that provides the ideal seating for a town the size of Nanaimo.

“Over the next two months we’ve estimated that approximately 8,000 people will visit Malaspina Theatre. This includes attendance at our upcoming production of A Different Moon, a VIU Colloquium event, Crimson Coast Dance performances, the West Coast Jazz Festival for high school students, the Real Paddling Film Fest, the TheatreOne Kids Show, and many more,” said Potter.

“The wide range of community partners that rely on the Malaspina Theatre is growing and so is the number of activities that go on there, which is why the timing for renovations couldn’t be better.”

Crimson Coast Dance Society Artistic Director and Producer, Holly Bright, calls Malaspina Theatre “a roughly hewn jewel in our community.” She says access to the theatre is essential to the programming that Crimson Coast Dance Society presents.

“It is the first theatre space we call to book shows because it is perfect in its intimacy and dimensions to show our performers well and it provides a brilliant, up close experience for the audience. It is the only small theatre space in Nanaimo suitable for the caliber of professional artists whose work we program throughout the year,” said Bright.

“With attention to the details of upgrading the theatre lobby, seating and stage, this space will experience a pivotal and desirable shift in community awareness for the theatre itself, for the campus and especially for the art that takes place there.” 

The Encore campaign is underway right now and tax receipts will be issued for all donations received through the campaign. For full details and to learn how you can help contact Kamala Haughton, Alumni Relations and Annual Campaign Officer at kamala.haughton@viu.ca or go to: www.viu.ca/encore.