The Magnetic North Theatre Festival, slated to open in Ottawa this June, has been cancelled.

Mike Hawkes, chair of the Canadian Theatre Festival Society, which produces Magnetic North told Artsfile that the Festival has been cancelled for this year. He said it is uncertain if it will be resurrected in some form. (…)

“There were several triggers that happened in the past couple of weeks including grants that we anticipated being successful with that we just were not able to achieve. Had we had some of those it would have allowed us to have an interim solution while we kept pushing the festival forward.

“But we felt that given the state of our financial obligations, if we pushed it forward without at least one or two significant partners, we would be in far worse condition in June.”

In a statement, the society’s board said: “The Board of Directors of the Canadian Theatre Festival Society announced today it is cancelling the Magnetic North Theatre Festival.  The Festival was scheduled for 16-24 June 2017 in various arts venues in Ottawa, including the National Arts Centre, la Nouvelle Scène, and Ottawa Arts Court. As a result, the seven productions from across Canada, programmed prior to Artistic Director Brendan Healy’s appointment in November 2016, as well as its annual Industry Series for professionals in the Canadian and International theatre, are cancelled.”