OTTAWA - National Arts Centre English Theatre today announced that its December 8 performance of the holiday classic, A Christmas Carol will be a pay-what-you-can benefit performance for the Actors' Fund of Canada. Showtime is 7:30 pm and tickets will be available at the door on a first-come first-serve basis.
The production runs to December 26 and marks the first time Charles Dickens' cherished holiday story has come to the NAC English Theatre stage. The lush period piece is presented on the full Shakespearean thrust stage-where the transformation of cold-hearted Ebenezer Scrooge is brought brilliantly to life by gifted actor Stephen Ouimette.
The December 8 benefit is the latest in a series of annual NAC English Theatre benefit performances for the Actors' Fund. Commenting on the theatre's longstanding commitment to supporting the Fund, Artistic Director Peter Hinton said, "Scheduling an annual benefit performance for the Actors' Fund is a responsibility that we are happy to undertake. We have a great deal of respect for the Fund, which has been so important to so many of this country's finest artists and those who work with them."
The Actors' Fund of Canada is the lifeline for Canada's entertainment industry. Performers and others who work behind the scenes in film and television, theatre, music and dance can apply for emergency financial aid from the Fund, which recently set a new record for the amount of financial aid delivered to industry members in a single year, topping $600,000 in 2008. The Fund has helped over 10,000 entertainment industry workers recover from illness, injury or other circumstances causing severe economic and personal hardship since it was founded in 1958.
The Fund is a registered charity that has paid out over $3.7 million in rent payments, grocery money, utility payments and other basic living expenses in the last 10 years. Performers, creators, technical staff and other production team members can benefit from the Fund, which receives no government funding and is wholly sustained by support from individuals and entertainment industry organizations.
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CONTACT:
David Hope, The Actors' Fund of Canada
Phone: 1-877-399-8392
E-mail: contact@actorsfund.ca
Web site: www.actorsfund.ca
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