Resources for producing and rehearsing safely

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and shift, we must keep the safety of our collaborators and audiences top of mind. Especially those that are in vulnerable populations (Ex: elderly or immonocompromised). Creating theatre during the time of COVID presents new difficulties and challenges, requiring all of us to get creative and innovative with the ways we rehearse and present theatre.Even as most businesses have removed most of their COVID precautions, it is important to keep up with the latest governmental and public health regulations and guidelines:

For the latest information on COVID-19 in Canada, please visit the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website and consult your local health authority.
A list of community-based measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus (from the Government of Canada)

Producing during COVID-19

It is vital that artists, producers, presenters and arts organizations continue to be in conversation with their teams and community about COVID-19. We’ve created a list of considerations to accompany your local region’s public health guidelines to help guide your planning process. Keep in mind that even as pandemic restrictions ease, members of your team or their loved ones may still be at high risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.

Before you begin rehearsals:

Creative Team Consultation: Ensuring COVID safety will be a team effort. Consider developing your protocols and procedures with input from everyone. Each of your team members are experts in their respective fields and have knowledge and experience to help ensure nothing important is overlooked. Consulting the team about their concerns and comfort levels is an important step that should be taken at the start of the planning process.
COVID-19 Plan: Even as the pandemic continually shifts, any in-person activity will involve some risk. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers must take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect a worker. All employers are encouraged to develop a COVID-19 workplace safety plan and to review and update it regularly.
Artist Feedback: Address any concerns that the artists may have by giving them time for feedback on your COVID protocols and procedures. This can be done as a separate meeting or perhaps at the very first team meeting. An important part of producing is making artists feel as safe as possible so they can fully comfortably engage in the work.
Cultural Practices: Take the time to have broader discussions about what is needed to safely accommodate cultural practices or customs. You may wish to include artists and the whole creative team in these discussions.
Venue: When preparing for a venue, consider that most venues have their own COVID-19 related protocols and procedures (of lack there of) that will have to be taken into account. This may affect the capacity, technical abilities, and amount of space available for rehearsal or production.
Contingency Plan: Building a contingency plan will help anticipate and troubleshoot potential COVID-related issues. A COVID-contingency plan could extend to contracting flexibility, changes in venue, changes from in-person to digital rehearsal, casting changes, cancelling or postponing the process, someone on your team contracting COVID, and any changes in governmental regulations which might pose new barriers for your plans. It is worth exploring having a plan for a potential illness.
Accessibility: Consider the ways in which you can address accessibility in the planning and production of your project, workshop, or presentation. Live captioning, transcription, and audio description are services that can be applied to in-person, distanced and online performances. Check out our page on Accessible Websites, Graphics, Videos and Documents and Accessible Performances for more information.
Budget: Specific things worth keeping an eye out for in your budget: potential gross box office, personal protective equipment, sanitization supplies, rehearsal equipment to ensure safe practices, equipment needed for streaming, costs to enact contingency plans, transportation, and caregiving costs. If you already have a budget, it’s worth reviewing and making necessary changes.
Production Meetings: Set aside a time during each production meeting to address things that might be affected or changed by COVID. If your production meetings are bi-monthly, you may want to add a weekly check-in to keep on top of responding to the virus.

Procedures and protocols for rehearsals

How you conduct rehearsals must first and foremost be governed by your local authorities’ public health rules and restrictions. Below is a list of procedures and protocols that artist producers across Canada have applied to their rehearsal process. Use them as inspiration, or a jumping off point, in conjunction with your local public health authorities’ recommendations, in order to create a safe working space.

Daily check-ins: Protocols change and peoples’ level of comfort and consent will change too. This can also be an opportunity to check in on mental/physical health. It is worth considering establishing a regular time to check in with the cast and creative team. This can either be something you do as a group or perhaps in a buddy system.
Communication: Another important aid to mental health is open communication, especially when it comes to safety boundaries. This will help to alleviate mental stress and anxiety. This can sound like, “Would you mind stepping back a foot? I'm feeling you're a bit too close to me.” Or even simply, “Your mask is slipping off your nose.”
Rapid Testing: Some provinces and municipalities are providing free rapid tests to businesses. You may consider performing rapid testing throughout your rehearsal process to ensure your team’s safety and peace of mind. Make sure you are checking local reporting and disposal requirements related to these tests.
Adapt for digital creative collaboration: You may choose to work online rather than in person, due to public health rules and restrictions, but working online is not the same as working in person. Answers & Offers: A Field Guide to Creative Collaboration in Digital Spaces contains great tools and strategies for adapting your creative process to meet the needs of your project, and the capacities of the folks you are working/playing/making with. Some subjects include countering zoom fatigue (many have reported that rehearsing over video conferencing software can lead to exhaustion after shorter periods of time than in-person rehearsals) and relationship-building in a digital space.
Socially Distanced Grids: If your team prefers to work while maintaining social distancing, you can tape out 6 metre x 6 metre squares. Whenever you are in the playing area, you can see if you are a safe distance from others.
PPE station: Personal protective equipment is extremely important to combating COVID-19, but sometimes people can forget or not have access to their own. Making PPE available to your team is an important safety net. It is a standard for people to wear 3-layer masks when possible and especially in spaces with other people. N95 and KN95 masks are highly recommended.
Hand sanitizing stations: Making hand sanitizer easily accessible has proven to increase its use. Have several stations around the rehearsal room, not just at the entrances
COVID symptoms in rehearsal: Determine guidelines about the physical condition required for team members to attend a rehearsal or performance in person.You may wish to discuss these scenarios with the entire team to ensure their comfort and safety in the room. Be as clear as possible: e.g. if someone is experiencing a cough or sore throat, they must stay home until they have no symptoms. You may choose to make alternative methods of participation available (e.g. via Zoom) in such an instance. It is recommended to ensure your contracts are clear about plans for payment and/or completion of work in the case of someone becoming symptomatic and/or testing positive.
What if someone tests positive?: If you are producing a project, you must have a plan for if someone tests positive for COVID. If you are rehearsing in person, it is your responsibility as the producer to contact anyone who has come in contact with the infected person. These people should get tested immediately and follow self-isolation procedures until they receive a negative test result.

National resources:

Risk mitigation tool for gatherings and events operating during the COVID-19 pandemic from the Government of Canada
Canadian Actors’ Equity Association Guidelines and Protocols: Any dance, opera or theatre production, where an Artist is engaged under an Equity contract, should be guided by these protocols (published September 18, 2020; in effect September 21, 2020).
PACT Public Resource Folder: Includes presentation slides on public health measures and some steps for theatre companies to consider taking now
Film and television industry health and safety during COVID-19: Resources, best practices and information to help keep your workers safe and healthy during COVID-19 (published June 25, 2020).
COVID-19 Risks and Precautions for Choirs: Precautions for choirs to minimize transmission of COVID-19 (published Jul 10, 2020).
The NAC Guide to Support the Re-Opening of Canadian Performing Arts Centres and Venues provides tools and best practices to help performing arts venues prepare for every aspect of putting on a show, from contract negotiation to rehearsal to performance, and everything in between. It is designed to help the Canadian performing arts industry recover and thrive in the age of COVID-19.
Event Safety Alliance Canada has gathered a resource list for COVID prevention and planning.

Ontario-specific:

Free rapid tests for Ontario businesses: A program for businesses (including performing arts companies and non-profits) in Ontario to register for free rapid tests.
Live Performance Health and Safety during COVID-19 released by the Live Performance Health and Safety Advisory Committee and Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (Published Feb 17 2021)
Government of Ontario COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open (updated November 8, 2020)
Resources to prevent COVID-19 in the workplace has sector-specific guidelines and posters to help protect workers, customers and the general public from coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ontario.

Toronto-specific:

Toronto Arts Council (TAC) COVID-19 Updates Page: Most up-to-date information form the TAC for grant recipients and artists residing in the GTA, including a list of prior public releases and assembled resources.
TAPA COVID-19 Resources: TAPA is updating this page with all public notices from Toronto Public Health (TPH). They also have a list of resources for TAPA members including action plans, sample communications and event guidance.

Vancouver-specific:

WorkSafeBC COVID-19 Safety Plan Builder: a tool to guide you through a six-step process to help you create a COVID-19 Safety Plan.
Actsafe COVID-19 Updates to Protocols and Resources: Resources for the arts and entertainment industry, including but not limited to Industry Relaunch Framework, Risk Assessment Guidelines and much more. You can also sign up to receive notifications each time a new resource is added.
GVPTA COVID-19 Resource List: Includes a submission form for data collection and community resource distribution, public health authority information, and provincial and local resources.

COVID 19 Health and Safety for Artists

Resources for producing and rehearsing safely

Producing during COVID-19

Before you begin rehearsals:

Procedures and protocols for rehearsals

National resources:

Ontario-specific:

Toronto-specific:

Vancouver-specific:

Alberta-specific:

Newfoundland & Labrador-specific:

Resources for artists working in the Canadian performing arts sector

Templates and downloads