Jason Stockfish | [email protected]
The first installation of Jasper Theatre Productions’ Theatre Tour had audiences enjoying performances at four local venues on Jan. 19 as part of Jasper in January 2023.
Those lucky enough to have tickets to the tour began the evening at the Downstream Lounge, where upon entry each person was given one of four different coloured bracelets.
After everyone had arrived, the creative forces behind the event, Joost Tijssen and Pieter van Loon, took to the microphone to welcome everyone and explain how the evening would unfold.
There were four groups divided by the colour of their bracelets, four performances and four venues. At each performance patrons were presented with a complimentary beverage.
Each group began the night at a different venue and then rotated their way through until everyone had taken in each of the performances, after which they would regroup at the Downstream to mingle over drinks and food while recounting the exceptional acts that they were lucky enough to witness.
“We created the Theater Tour for Jasper in January for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason is to give local talent a stage. Jasper has so much performing arts to offer and new talents need that stage to grow,” Tijssen said.
“The biggest challenge with a theater tour is the logistics and timing of having four groups with their own route, four locations, and four different performances. You can only plan so much in advance, but to see the logistics working during the evening was amazing, and the performers did an absolutely terrific job.”
Tijssen said that he and van Loon are always looking for new and exciting events and creating a theater tour has definitely kept them busy during the winter months.
“With this tour we hope to add a new, multi-year event on the agenda of things to do in Jasper,” he added.
The Theatre Tour is happening once again on Jan. 26, but tickets to the second week sold out in minutes.
