From the stage to the box office, Anne Raciunas has had a love of theatre since high school.
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we spoke with Raciunas, 35, box office manager with Theatre Collingwood.
Q: For how long have you lived in Collingwood?
A: My family moved to Collingwood in 1997. I was 12 years old.
I have lived here off and on since then.
Most recently, I came back permanently in 2012 and have been here ever since.
I spent two years at St. Mary’s, and went to the high school formerly known as Jean Vanier (now Our Lady of the Bay).
Q: What made you leave the area?
A: I went to the University of Guelph for English and Theatre in 2004. I stayed there until 2009. I came back and worked locally for a little while. I spent a year in Halifax, before coming back to Collingwood in 2012.
Q: Has theatre always been something you’ve gravitated toward?
A: I wasn’t a tiny stage kid or anything. (laughs)
In high school I was able to take some electives and I was drawn to it from that point forward. I came from a family that encouraged me to follow my own interests. I have family members who are actors and singers. It was definitely a part of my life from a young age.
Q: What part of theatre appealed to you the most?
A: I loved acting from a young age, but as I got older I became more interested in directing and stage managing and producing.
Originally it was about the thrill of performing and the sense of community that comes from being part of a production that attracted me to it.
Q: What brought you back to Collingwood in 2012?
A: I had that year out East that was me sort of spreading my wings a little bit.
I was essentially coming home. That, basically, was what brought my family to Collingwood in the first place. My dad was raised on a farm in Stayner.
I’ve had several jobs here over the years. I eventually landed at Theatre Collingwood in 2014.
Q: You’re the box office manager for Theatre Collingwood. What does the box office manager do?
A: I keep the office running and work on the administrative side of things. At Theatre Collingwood, we’re a very small, tight-knit staff. One of the things that’s wonderful about my position is it’s a jack-of-all-trades position. We all do what needs doing.
There’s a lot of diversity in responsibilities. That’s part of what’s kept me around for seven years.
I had also been a summer student for Theatre Collingwood in 2007 when I was in school.
Q: The past year has been challenging for many sectors. How has it been challenging for Theatre Collingwood?
A: It’s tricky to talk about, because you don’t want to have that competitive (tone) where it’s like, ‘Our sector has had it the worst.’
When it comes to the performing arts, when all of this started happening it was really daunting because it didn’t take long for us to realize that one of the last fields to recover was going to be the performing arts. Places that are designed for people to come together are going to be totally different from this point on.
It was a little bit scary at first, but what was really encouraging was our community that encouraged us not to give up hope.
Our friends and actors – it didn’t stop them from creating. It was almost the opposite, there was this influx of creativity and proof that we will persevere.
The arts are the one thing that that will always survive and has survived plagues and wars. If you burn everything down, it always rises up again.
We never hit a point where we lost hope. We just knew there were going to be a lot of significant changes.
We bring in shows from all over Canada. Typically we have a season of five main performances through the summer, usually indoors.
With 2020, we did pivot. We had a handful of online shows, and stayed engaged with our own community.
From there, the focus has been on the future. I’m happy to say there have been some positive things that have come out of that. For Theatre Collingwood, it’s made us take a look at things we may have been hanging onto that aren’t possible anymore and has given us the opportunity to get creative, and do some things we’ve always wanted to that may be considered riskier.
Q: What kinds of things?
A: Some of it is coming up so I don’t want to get into too much detail.
There will be a focus on smaller, one-person, in-person shows and concerts that will have an emphasis on different kinds of diverse performers. Some of these shows are sometimes linked to new play development... which is something we don’t typically get to focus on, but now we do.
All of us at Theatre Collingwood are really excited about it.
It will also propel us forward into doing other projects where maybe Collingwood becomes a place where more new play development happens. It’s a silver lining, for sure.
Q: Do you have hopes for the future of Theatre Collingwood?
A: I look forward to Theatre Collingwood being able to collaborate with other arts groups. Our little arts hub has grown so much in the last 10 years. I do see a future where we work together to succeed and I think that will be necessary coming out of the pandemic.
Q: Do you see yourself returning to the stage?
A: In my own personal life, yes, absolutely.
I’m very satisfied in my job because I get to work with so many people doing so many things.
There are lots of ways to be in front of people without being on the stage. (laughs)
I’m involved with Theatre Georgian Bay and Gaslight Theatre, so I do have those opportunities.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like people in Collingwood to know about you?
A: I’m a Collingwood person, but I wasn’t born here. I feel like Collingwood has changed so much over the years and it’s going to continue to change. I’m excited to call this place home, and to see where it goes.
We’ve experienced growth in so many ways in such a short time.
It is my deeper hope that people here continue to encourage and appreciate the arts. It’s a special place.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we’ll be speaking with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way, letting them tell their own stories in their own words. This feature will run on CollingwoodToday every Saturday. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
