Sum Theatre had to make changes to its outdoor performances this week due to the heat being experienced in Saskatoon.
The community-based theatre company is making a handful of switches to 10 a.m. matinee performances, including Thursday’s show in Optimist Park in Riversdale, as well as on Friday at Les Kerr Park in Forest Grove.
“Our main priority is the health and safety of both families that come to see our show and our ensemble who can’t wait to perform for you,” read a Sum statement.
“If you have tickets to either the 5:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. shows, you can exchange them for another evening by contacting our box office. There are still plenty of chances to see it in Saskatoon parks until July 30.”
Theatre in the Park is offered free of charge in neighbourhood parks each July by the company’s ensemble.
This year’s offering is a family-friendly rock opera based on a story by Yvette Nolan called The Other Side of the River. Organizers said it is being shown in response to Indigenous Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter and the international movement towards racial equity.
“The show this year deals with race relations … and the topic is just always about how there’s always two sides to the same river and that we should always get to know each other without the judgment or without casting a dark cloud on people that are different,” theatre associate Krystle Pederson said.
“This show is just about coming together and sharing that people, in general, can become a community and can become friends and that we all live here on this earth and that we all come together.
“I think, right now, during all of what’s happening in the in the world and what’s happening with all of the discoveries from residential schools … I think that this play is just super important to be telling that story and seeing if we can shed some light and come together as a community and just build community.”
Environment Canada has issued a heat warning for Saskatoon as a prolonged period of extreme heat is building into southern and central Saskatchewan.
According to the federal agency, daytime temperatures are forecast to be in the low to mid-30s with overnight lows staying in the high teens, offering little reprieve from the heat. These temperatures are expected to persist through the weekend and into next week.
For the latest conditions and warnings, download the SkyTracker weather app.