Theatre Outre and The Bordello

[Wes Pearce]

Members of the List Serv - I am posting this on the list serv because I
am shocked and saddened by this event.  Addresses follow the story (that
I have copied from FB) but if you want to write please follow the
guidelines and protocols requested by Richie, Jay and Aaron.  
BORDELLO IS SHUTTERED 
But the show will go on... 
It is with great pain and sadness that Theatre Outré announces the
closing of Bordello.  Bordello, a performance venue for the registered
non-profit theatre society, Theatre Outré, played host to numerous
performances, shows and events over the past year in the heart of
downtown Lethbridge.  Starting modestly in the Whitney Building above
the Owl Acoustic Lounge, the venue hosted world class theatrical events,
including the world premiere production of Theatre Outré’s critically
acclaimed international touring hit UNSEX’d, and the week long Pretty,
Witty & Gay Festival that was funded, in part, by the City of Lethbridge
through The Heart of the City grant. 
After such a successful year, we decided to move our operations to a
bigger and better space at 517A 4th Avenue South, in the historic
MacFarland Building.  This new space, which had previously been a dance
studio, was transformed, through many hours of volunteer help, as well
as a substantial financial investment by us, into a small black box
theatre with a colorful lobby.  The end result was a fantastic and
exciting venue equipped for future performances by Theatre Outré and
other community arts groups and artists. 
Unfortunately, in the span of just the past few days, ignorant and
homophobic neighbouring tenants in the McFarland Buidling have made it
clear in various ways that we are not welcome in their midst.  Two
hateful, hurtful and defamatory emails were sent to our landlord
questioning our integrity based on moral grounds and challenging our
co-existing alongside their businesses, including an insurance broker
and a music school for children.  These emails were sent by Dale Reimer,
of Reimer Insurance, and Lydia Collin, from Lydia Collin School of
Music.  We at Theatre Outré had contemplated the possibility of noise
complaints due to our operations but had decided our performance hours,
being in direct contrast to the working hours of our neighbors, should
not become a major issue. 
The naivety of our own concerns seem quaint now in retrospect, since
the actual complaints lobbied against us in emails expressed
hypothetical concerns about exposure to homosexual lifestyles,
“transsexual endorsement,” child molestation, rape, indecent exposure
and acquiring STDs from the building’s toilets.  These ‘concerns’ and
libelous accusations were inspired, apparently, by Theatre Outré’s 
website – www.theatreoutre.ca.  We invite those reading this to visit
our website to judge for yourself what we consider an astronomical level
of absurdity in the accusations claimed against us.  Theatre Outré
definitely and proudly proclaims a body positive and sex positive
mandate through our work, designed to challenge gendered and sexual
norms; however, equating our work with child molestation and other
criminal activities, based on one’s own ideas of morality, without
having experienced the space or meeting us personally is hurtful,
discriminatory, painful and might even be laughable if the result had
not been so damaging to our company. 
A petition is being circulated to tenants in the building by Lydia
Collin in efforts to have us evicted. An unidentified “concerned”
citizen has called the Mayor’s office to complain about our presence in
downtown Lethbridge. As a result, a bureaucratic process, which we were
close to finishing, was road-blocked and our venue, therefore, is no
longer allowed to operate for the purposes of theatre performance until
we receive approval from a city council.  A fledgling theatre company,
in our city, who is a registered society, receives grants from the
Alberta Foundation of the Arts, received a grant from The City of
Lethbridge, and who is on the Downtown Lethbridge BRZ website, is no
longer a proper business and is now threatened with being called an
‘adult theatre’ which requires a City Council vote to operate its own
space.  This new definition of our space (which they were previously
going to license as a ‘club’ with zero red tape) came about after the
Mayor’s Office was notified and city hall employees visited our website.
 At Theatre Outré, we don’t know what the label ‘adult theatre’ means in
respect to the work that we do.  A year of being legitimized and
celebrated as artists across Canada and internationally in cities
including Calgary, Halifax, Lethbridge and Dublin has now been reduced
to an adult theatre unworthy of operating without special permission
because of one phone call to the mayor. 
The closure of Bordello has repercussions in a variety of Lethbridge
communities.  The following is just a sampling of events and groups we
have hosted that are now in search of a new space for their cultural
activities: 
·		  The over 500 members of the Theatre Outré Society
·		  Drama Nutz Improv Troupe
·		  New West Theatre
·		  Bad Wolf Productions
·		  Fourth Wave Freakz Zine
·		  YQL Poetry
·		  Signal.Bin Electro-Acoustic Night
·		  ThugWork Theatre
·		  Visiting performance artists from across the country
such as VideoFag, DaPoPo Theatre, Gillian Clark and more
We are obviously angered, saddened and distraught by what has
transpired and, rest assured, we are not going away.  BUT, this does
mean we do not have a venue for those fantastic events, and more, any
longer.  We have sincerely appreciated your support and your creativity
and we hope that all our events can continue to flourish in some other
way at some other place, even if it is not with us.  We will keep
everyone posted as to where to voice concerns and outrage over the
systematic and unnecessary dismantling of our beloved Bordello. 
If you need someone to talk to about this, please call or email the
following people: 
Lydia Collin – 																		
  		     http://www.myc.com/teacher/lcollin																
   http://www.lydiacollin.com/ 																									
  		    	  403-634-5493 
Dale Reimer – Reimer Insurance 														
 		     http://www.reimerfin.com/ 																										
			    403-327-6808 
Mayor Chris Spearman 																							
    mayor at lethbridge.ca 																											
  		     403 320-3823 
Should you choose to contact the above, we urge our members not to
engage in name calling, accusations and threats.  We urge you impress
upon them what Bordello has meant to you, and what you and the community
have lost because of their actions.  Sincerity is our best weapon. 
 
Sincerely, 
Richie Wilcox 
Jay Whitehead 
Aaron Collier 
 


Wes D. Pearce
Associate Dean (Undergraduate)  
Faculty of Fine Arts 
University of Regina
S4S 0A2
306 585 5571
@wesdpearce
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