Economic issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the shrinking Alberta economy has caused a popular Airdrie theatre company to close down for good.  

Torchlight Theatre has been in the city since 2015 but Artistic Director and Owner Chelsea Restall says, even after the pandemic ends, they won't reopen their doors.

Restall explains that in March, they had just finished a production and the following day everything shut down because of the pandemic.  That closure forced them to cancel a number of upcoming fundraisers.  "Beforehand the economic slump in Alberta had already hit us hard.  We had lost three of our sponsors. We weren't in the strongest position before this whole COVID situation."

The shutdown, the loss of their fundraisers, and the inability to pay their bills forced Torchlight to make the difficult decision to close forever.  

Restall says she was excited as Torchlight had just found a new home at the Polaris Centre for the Performing Arts in Balzac after looking for a location for over a year.  

Restall says the theatre had a good following in Airdrie and a lot of community support.  The SPARK Youth Program for young people between the ages of 11 and 17 was extremely popular.  Restall says it's that group, and Torchlight's many volunteers, that she'll miss the most.  And, those volunteers will miss Torchlight just as much.

"I think everyone was pretty upset, pretty sad about it.  There were a lot of tears for some of our long term volunteers.  We have volunteers who have been with us since the day we opened.  Having to let them know that our last show was our last show, was hard."

Restall says, despite their disappointment, the volunteers have been extremely supportive, saying they loved what Torchlight Theatre did and being a part of it.

The young people who took part in the SPARK program are also saying nothing but good things about Torchlight.  "They're saying like, 'you gave me confidence,' 'you taught me how to talk to people,' this changed my life,' sort of stuff."

Along with teaching kids, Torchlight Theatre was a source of entertainment that most people said rivaled what they found in the city, without having to drive into downtown Calgary to get it.   "To have to tell people that what we were providing is gone.  It was hard.  I cried I'm not going to lie."

Personally, Restall says the closure is huge for her since Torchlight Theatre virtually consumed her life for the past five years. "I helped build the sets, I helped pick costumes, I painted prop pieces, I was part of the cast.  Both of my nephews were in the SPARK program.  It was my whole life for five years in a sense. It was pretty hard to make that decision because I had put so much of myself into the company."

As Restall gets over the tough decision to close, she's also looking forward to new opportunities in theatre.  "As sad as it is, I'm also looking forward to new opportunities for myself as an artist.  In the past five years I produced 14 productions, and I'm an actor by trade and not a producer so I miss acting as well.  I'm hoping to get out into the world and get back to what I love, back to acting.

"I have nothing but fond memories," Restall says. " I met so many fantastic artists and just fantastic people through this process that I would never regret doing it, ever."

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