Jez Butterworth's The River is a challenging piece of theatre that explores our most common failings. A thrilling new work by one of Britain's most celebrated playwrights, the play asks big questions of its audience and plays with their expectations. Critics have praised Butterworth's writing, calling the play "beautiful, slippery and unnerving" and audiences have applauded its engrossing mystery. In this day and age, when viewers can choose to know everything about a story before they even arrive to watch it, The River spins a tale the audience enjoys more the fewer details they know going in. 

Channel Theatre is a new company that prides itself on doing more with less. Operated by Jaron Francis, an actor/writer/producer who has been working in theatre for over 15 years, the company recruits top tier talent to stage unique, intimate tales that wouldn't otherwise be seen. Channel is the conduit by which Saskatoon's audiences can connect in purest form with their most passionate theatre-makers. Funds raised by this campaign will go toward the most essential of costs - performance rights, venue rental, etc. - ensuring the feasibility of the endeavour for the artists involved, and allowing them to focus on the art rather than the business.  

What We Need & What You Get

Even the most frugal theatre production needs somewhere to perform and words to speak. Money raised will go toward staging costs and purchasing the performance rights to the script. Having these funds upfront will ensure the artists involved receive some amount of remuneration for their hard work. 

In exchange for you support, you can receive tokens from the production such as limited edition posters, copies of the script, tickets to the show or even season passes to similar theatre offerings in Saskatoon. 

No matter how much money is raised, it will make an enormous difference to all involved. Unfortunately, actors have become accustomed to essentially working for free on projects such as these. They shouldn't have to. 

The Impact

Emotionally and intellectually challenging works like The River provide the audience with an evening of stellar entertainment, but also leave them with worthy ideas to consider, and - if they're looking for it - an opportunity to change how they see the world. Such works are a tall order in our time, primarily because of a theatre practitioner's need to earn a living. A donation to this campaign supports much more than the several artists directly involved, it supports a local industry entire and demonstrates that people do truly value the presence of this kind of art in their community. The artists involved in this production share over 50 years of experience and are all committed to creating theatre in Saskatchewan.