You likely began the day yesterday hearing the news that our governor had declared a statewide disaster proclamation relations to the coronavirus. There are now 25 Illinois cases. As a community organization, we want to be mindful of making the best possible decisions in relation to the safety and security of our audiences, performers, and production people. We are following the lead of our city, state, and federal elected officials as we implement strategies recommended by public health authorities and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for our organization. The University of Chicago has chosen to cancel any gatherings of over 100 people, but we will not be that large a group. We are also looking to other area theaters for guidance–at the moment, none of Chicago’s major theaters are cancelling performances.
Currently, no scheduled performances have been canceled. We plan to perform She Kills Monsters March 13-15 and 20-22, and hope you will still join us.
In order to minimize risk, we are making the following commitments:
1) We will personally disinfect high-use spots in our rented home at the University Church, such as door and faucet handles, stair rails.
2) Alcohol-based sanitizers, wipes and tissues for public will be available in the lobby, (unless/until we run out!) and we will double check the bathrooms for soap and paper towels daily.
3) We will cancel our normal potluck Opening Night reception on Sat, March 14 to try to accomplish the recommended “social distancing”
4) Rather then have our standard home-made goodies as intermission concessions, we will stick to prepackaged items.
5) Audience chairs will be set up at a wider distance than usual.
We recommend you continue to take standard personal precautions, including frequent, thorough hand-washing, to avoid the spread of any illness. Switch from greetings of hugs and handshakes to an elbow bump, blow a kiss or wave. And if you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, or are not feeling well, we would regretfully ask you to stay home.
We remain vigilant, and we are prepared to make decisions based on current recommendations, as well as in response to changing conditions. If we do decide to cancel future performances, we will notify audiences via our website and facebook page, GoodNeighbors listserv and our personal email list.
We are so grateful for your support of our endeavors, and wish you all good health through this challenging time.