On Friday, December 16th, one of Green Thumb Theatre’s touring vehicles was in an accident due to winter road conditions. Most importantly - apart from a few bruises, the driver of the vehicle is alright. The entire Green Thumb team, and Artistic Director Patrick McDonald in particular, extend our warmest to Geoff, who has worked for the company the past two seasons. "Geoff Jones is an incredible emerging talent, warm and generous with his colleagues, and we are extremely grateful he is safe."

The vehicle however was extensively damaged, and will have to be written off. These touring vehicles are Green Thumb Theatre’s main mode of disseminating engaging and meaningful professional theatre to young people around BC and across the country. As we bring theatre to audiences directly in their schools and community spaces, these vans are essentially our theatres. This particular vehicle was a Mercedes Sprinter that had been built specifically for our needs as a touring company. The vehicle was equipped with 5 seats up front and a hard partition between the passenger area and the cargo area, which held all of our sets, gear and other equipment related to the productions we tour. It is in part because of this custom design, as well as the outstanding design and safety features of the Sprinter that Geoff was largely unharmed.

In order to continue to provide outstanding theatre to the communities of British Columbia and beyond, we will need to replace this vehicle as soon as possible. If anything, this unfortunate accident has proven to us the worth of purchasing Sprinter vehicles for our touring fleet. In addition to the loss of the vehicle, we are also faced with having to replace a broken set, as well as audio/visual equipment and other production items. The total loss is approximately $75,000. While our insurance will cover a portion of the replacement of the vehicle and the replacement or repair of any of our equipment, we are still facing significant expenses we were not anticipating. It is our great hope that dealing with these expenses will not affect our programming choices for next season, however that is a reality we may be faced with.

Coping with this kind of unexpected financial difficulty is never easy for a company like Green Thumb. If Green Thumb has touched your life, or the lives of young people you know - or if you simply believe, as we do, that all children and youth deserve access to meaningful cultural experiences, regardless of their location or socio-economic status, we would be grateful for any contributions towards replacing and repairing the affected touring equipment. Donations made before December 31st are eligible for 2016 tax receipts. We wish everyone a warm, joyous, and most importantly - safe holiday season; remember to exercise caution if you're on the road.