Bard Back on the Beach

MATCHING CAMPAIGN UPDATE

In November, our very own Board of Directors banded together with some of our visionary donors and promised us $300,000 if we were able to raise another $300,000 from you – our incredible Bard Community – and we did it! After four amazing months of support from over 2,000 donors, we are so thankful to say that we have surpassed our original goal towards our matching campaign!

While this campaign has been vital to keeping the magic of Bard alive, the Festival will face financial challenges for the foreseeable future. These generous donations will lessen the negative impact on our performances, education programs, the livelihoods of staff and artists, and many other operational needs. We don’t know the exact date we’ll be back on the beach just yet, but the Bard Team is so grateful that our community will have our backs when we’re safely able to raise our tents again.

Many thanks to our exemplary seed donors for the Back on the Beach matching campaign:

Jefferson Mooney and Suzanne Bolton
Peter and Joanne Brown
The Hon. Grant D. Burnyeat Q.C.
The Pamela & David Richardson Family Fund
Bard’s Board of Directors

If you would like to support Bard further and continue to help us bridge our financial gap in these difficult times, please visit our Membership page. Our various Membership levels unlock different perks and benefits, and we would love to welcome you into our Bard Member Family.

For more information, please visit our FAQs.

BARD COMPANY

Your donation makes a difference!

BARD COMPANY

Wardrobe $100 – $1,000 Cost of one costume
Props $100 – $1,000 Cost to build one prop; for example, the breakable flower pot in The Taming of the Shrew
Makeup $250 Cost of makeup for each actor
Show Prep $2,800 Cost to provide Company voice and movement warm ups during rehearsal and performances
Coaching $3,500 Cost to provide Company coaching sessions during rehearsal and performances.

ADMINISTRATION

Your donation helps the Bard Team welcome over 100,000 patrons to our site per Season.

Your donation helps Production erect the full main gate, including labour, transport and large equipment usage (approx. $16,000).

Your donation helps 13,000 young people who participate in youth Education programs each year. 7,500 young people participate in these programs for free.

Your donation helps Wardrobe create 240 costumes each year.

The Company of The Taming of the Shrew | Photo: Tim Matheson

The Company of All’s Well That Ends Well | Photo: Tim Matheson

Your donation helps Marketing give away 600 free tickets annually to local charities and underserved communities.

Your donation helps Artistic & Education train 44 Teaching Artists each year.

Your donation has helped the Bard Team produce productions of 36 Shakespeare plays since 1990.

Your donation helps the Box Office welcome 7,000 young people who attend the Festival with a free or deeply discounted ticket.

Photo: Tim Matheson

Photo: Tim Matheson

Your donation has helped the Bard Team welcome almost 2 million patrons since Bard’s founding in 1990.

Your donation helps Artistic & Education offer 16 paid emerging artist apprentice positions each year.

Your donation helps Artistic & the Bard Team employ 179 artists.

Your donation helps Production with site remediation at the end of the Season ($20,000 is budgeted to smooth out the wheel ruts from all the machinery during the strike, place sod on the sloped areas to turn it into grassed area again and prevent erosion, and we hydroseed the remaining level areas of the site).

BARD EDUCATION & TRAINING

Your donation makes a difference!

BARD EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Young Shakespeareans Camps & Workshops $500 Cost to send one bursary student to a YSW camp
$250 Cost of scripts for a YSW camp or teen workshop
$2,500 Cost of an online summer camp for 10 Young Shakespeareans
Bard in the Classroom $500 Cost of one day of Bard in the Classroom workshops for a school
Bard for Life $250 Cost for one Bard for Life participant
Speech of the Week $1,000 Cost of one round of Speech of the Week community education sessions
Bard Education Lab $2,500 Cost of a Bard Education Lab for collaborative curriculum development

TRAINING PROGRAMS

Bard Studio $250 Cost to offer a dozen artists a free Bard Studio training session
Professional Development for School Teachers $1,000 Cost to offer local teachers professional development training
Teaching Artists $1,000 Cost of a professional development session for 10 Teaching Artists
Riotous Youth $750 Cost of the series of classes for the Riotous Youth interns.

Seed Donor Profiles

JEFFERSON MOONEY & SUZANNE BOLTON

SEED DONORS

QUESTION: Who are you? ANSWER: Jefferson Mooney and Suzanne Bolton Q: Why does Bard matter to you? A: Bard is one of North America’s finest theatre companies Q: Why do you think Bard matters to the community? A: It informs, educates and entertains! Q: Why is this specific campaign important to you? A: Simply put, Bard on the Beach makes our City a better place. We wanted to help motivate everyone to support. Q: Do you have a favourite Bard moment? A: Our 2 favourite moments are Christopher Gaze as King Lear and Harveen Sandhu in As You Like It.

GRANT BURNYEAT

SEED DONOR

QUESTION: Tell us a little bit about yourself. ANSWER: I am a retired Judge and former lawyer. I was the first President of Bard and have attended all but about three Bard performances over the years. Q: Why does Bard matter to you? A: I was there at the beginning and I have no intention of being there at the end! Bard has become part of what makes Vancouver alive and great each summer. Growing from 10,000 theatre goers, one play, and one tent, Bard has become a great success with over 100,000 play goers each year, two tents and four plays as well as a wonderful setting that allows those in attendance to enjoy food and drink and the best scenery that Vancouver can offer. Q: Why do you think Bard matters to the community? A: Because it exemplifies all that it is exciting about our great city – being together and enjoying theatre at its best in an unparalleled setting. A truly great city must feature great theatre – that is what Vancouver has in Bard and what it must continue to have. Q: Why is this specific campaign important to you? A: Because it allows the legacy of great theatre in a great city to continue for another 32 years and beyond. Q: Do you have a favourite Bard moment? A: Opening night 31 years ago when the efforts of actors, managers and volunteers culminated in what would be the first of many great productions. With one tent. With one show. With volunteers sleeping in the tent overnight to make sure that our meagre assets were protected. With actors working in a cooperative for little money but with great commitment and fine performances. And with a clear summer sky to welcome what would grow into what is Bard today and what must be Bard for future generations.

FAQ

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