Theatre Sarnia is an Not-For-Profit organization run by an elected Board of Directors. This Board oversees the running of Theatre Sarnia, and appoints an Executive Director, who manages The Imperial Theatre. Theatre Sarnia is governed by the Bylaws, which are reviewed at the Annual General Meeting in September.
The members of Theatre Sarnia can get involved by joining one of the four active committees. The committees are chaired by a member of the Board of Directors, and report to the Board monthly.
The Committees of Theatre Sarnia are:
The community engagement committee supports Theatre Sarnia through engaging the people of the community in activities and events for the organization. We work to build and maintain strong relationships with local partners to help encourage and promote growth and excitement for Theatre events. Through internal objectives; volunteer organization, membership, and special events like the Red Carpet Gala, we strive to keep an active and engaged pool of members and volunteers within the organization, while external objectives; social media campaigns, show and event promotion downtown, developing partnerships with other businesses in the core of Sarnia, we continue to work and grow our attendance and participation in shows, workshops, and volunteerism.
To learn more about the Community Engagement Committee, email: jpeckham@theatresarnia.org
The Finance and Capital Projects Committee are an advisory committee to the Board of Directors of Theatre Sarnia that will:
a) Monitor and make recommendations related to financial planning, financial performance, financial investment, and financial management of the organization.
b) Ensure effective financial policies and practices, as well as internal controls, are in place to safeguard Theatre Sarnia’s financial health and sustainability.
The committee meets monthly, typically the second Tuesday and outside of the regular board meeting time. Meetings are scheduled over a twelve-month period. Reporting shall consist of a verbal overview of Theatre Sarnia’s financial statements as well as meeting minutes presented to the Board of Directors that focuses on recommendations to be considered by the governing body.
The committee currently consists of six members made up as follows: Chair/Treasurer -Bob Wark, Craig Matthews, Godfrey Stevens, Marlene Kerwin , Paul Richardson and Walter Frais. Each committee member brings their own individual skills and abilities to make this a well- rounded committee.
To learn more about the Finance and Capital Projects Committee, email: bwark@theatresarnia.org
As described in our Terms of Reference, the Governance Committee is a subcommittee of the Board of Directors. Our mandate is to support the Board through the vetting of Board policies that assist the Board in effective governance. In essence, we provide the roadmap for the Board of Director framework to help with decision making.
This involves the development and review of Board policies & procedures. The Governance Committee also supports the recruitment of new Board members and Board orientation.
Some of our recent initiatives have included the development of job descriptions for Board roles including Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, etc. The development of these job descriptions helps outline responsibilities of each role to support the organization. We have also recently provided guidance on the sharing of information on our Theatre Sarnia website and are in the process of developing policies related to social media, media relations, etc.
Our committee currently has 7 members with the Chair of the Board serving as Chair of the Committee. The Committee currently has 2 community members (part of our membership but not elected Board members) and 5 elected board members. We meet the second Monday of the month at 6pm. Our meetings are virtual due to COVID 19 restrictions.If you are interested in learning more about this committee and possible committee membership, please reach out to Marlene Kerwin, Committee Chair at mkerwin@theatresarnia.org.
The Production Committee is a subcommittee of the Board of Directors that, as outlined in its Terms of Reference, is responsible for four main areas:
- Make recommendations to the Board regarding Theatre Sarnia programming;
- Develop the volunteer base by providing workshops and opportunities for member growth, both on and backstage;
- Liaise with the Finance Committee and Executive Director on developing Production budgets;
- Develop and maintain policies and procedures pertaining to Productions.
The Play Reading Committee is a subcommittee of the Production Committee and reports to it monthly. Its primary role is to recommend the Theatre Sarnia Season Playbill to the Production Committee for its approval prior to the Production Committee seeking final approval from the Board. It also is responsible for reading, evaluating and maintaining a data base of plays for future productions, as well as reviewing play proposals from directors.
The Theatre Sarnia Department Heads also report to the Production Committee. Their role is to maintain a data base for their departments, assist the creative teams as needed, identify and address department issues and member development needs.
Since the COVID-19 March closing of our theatre, the Production Committee has continued its work holding virtual monthly meetings. Although the season playbill has been put on hold, the Play Reading Committee has continued to read and evaluate plays for future consideration. The focus now is on possible virtual productions in order to engage our membership and our audience.
In addition, the Production Manual has been finalized and job descriptions for Department Heads completed. An audience survey to provide data for future programming decisions was completed in July using Survey Monkey. A Director Development Policy was developed along with evaluation criteria for One Acts. Currently, production policies and procedures are being reviewed and updated as needed.
The Production Committee has 11 members including the Chair who is an elected Board member and 2 other elected Board members. The Chair of the Play Reading Committee, the Librarian, and the Youth Group Coordinator are also members of the Committee as well as the Production Manager who is a non-voting member. This Committee meets the first Monday of the month at 5:30 p.m.
To learn more about the Production Committee, email: pbedard@theatresarnia.org