The Search for Rental Space

by Christine Luksts

It’s not uncommon for a theatre company to exist without a year round brick & mortar space, and Guild Festival Theatre falls into this camp. While the Greek Theatre at Guild Park & Gardens is the iconic home to GFT for our summer season, in person activities outside of the summer require another space. This presents a regular challenge for the GFT team. You can have the perfect project, perfect team, perfect timing for everyone involved… but without a suitable space the work just can’t happen, and with so many incredible artists in the city, finding an appropriate space can get competitive.

Board meetings and co-working sessions can happen in a variety of locations; A sizable cafe can often do the trick, the Toronto Public Library has community room bookings & we’ll even use a local Quaker Church’s dining room from time to time! Finding a functional, and unique space for these meetings can be a really exciting feeling. This Spring, however, we had a 4-day workshop of Heratio, Genevieve Adam’s new play that will have its world premiere at GFT this summer. With a cast of six, the stage manager, the playwright, the director, and one or two others, we max out coworking sized spaces.

Location is always an important aspect to consider: while we are a Scarborough-based company, and we make an effort to highlight the diverse artists of Scarborough in our casting and hiring, Scarborough and Toronto’s East End simply have less spaces that suit our needs. We hope to build partnerships with more Scarbrough based spaces, but for the time being, Chartwell Retirement Home, and the theatre space in their facility is a Guildwood-based blessing. However, size limitations and their own scheduling needs limit the utility of this space. We’ve really enjoyed working in TAPA’s B-Street location, which boasts a rentable rehearsal space, boardroom, recording studio and more - but as it's located in central Toronto with reasonable rates, it often books up fast!

With a tight timeline, a need for a larger space and sessions taking place during busy weekend days, I had to get creative in securing a rental for this workshop. Finding a space on weekdays was very straightforward, however booking for the sessions held during the weekend proved quite difficult. After sending a multitude of inquiries without much luck, I was able to find a large studio space through a connection made on a previous show, and secured a discount by offering advertising privileges. The Toronto theatre industry is huge, but the nature of how we work (on many short projects with many different people) can often make it feel quite small. These connections are so vital to theatre professionals. Everyone in the industry is aware of the trials and tribulations of producing professional art, and whenever possible, we will find a way to help each other.

The generosity of the theatre community, and our team’s research & bargaining skills have never let us down. Whether it be a custom deal of a reduced rental price, an in-kind donation, or just the perfect find at the perfect price, there’s always been something out there that helps us bring our summer season to life!