CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — Some local entertainment venues are still working to recover financially three years after the pandemic.
Onstage Playhouse, the only live theater in the South Bay, is hoping the public can help keep its doors open.
"This space is extremely valuable to the South Bay, if not Chula Vista, itself," said James P. Darvas, the Artistic Director.
The theater company was founded in 1983 and has been located on Third Avenue in Chula Vista for 20 years.
"There's nowhere for artistic representation here in this entire city, so that's what's important about this building," Darvas said.
Onstage Playhouse is going on its 40th season. Shortly after the murder of George Floyd, Darvas said the theater shifted it's focus to exploring sensitive topics, such as police brutality, race and euthanasia.
He said the goal is to produce plays worth talking about.
"The goal is that if you're sitting next to somebody who doesn't look like you, who doesn't love like you and doesn't worship like you, that you can walk down the street, maybe head to the Gentle Penguin afterward and have a conversation," he said.
Estefania Ricalde is the theater's Sound Designer and Stage Manager.
She said she joined the theater company during the pandemic after seeing one of their shows online.
"It made you think, it made you try and put the pieces together, and it just made me feel something that I hadn't felt through other theatre companies," she said.
However, the theater company is now at risk of closing the curtains for good.
Darvas said ticket sales have increased since the pandemic but are far from pre-pandemic levels.
On top of that, their rent has skyrocketed.
"When you have the pandemic that's taken away our ability to bring in funds through ticket sales, and then your rent goes up 100 percent, that's a little shocking for the bottom line," Darvas said.
The money raised will go towards paying rent and artists and performers.
But, most importantly, it'll help keep topics important to the South Bay community in the spotlight.
"It's very important that the generation of people outside walking up and down the streets know that this space is a space where they're going to come and their voice is not only heard but it's valued immensely," Darvas said.
The theater is currently working on a fundraising production about the HIV epidemic in the 1990s called Lonely Planet. It'll run from June 23 through July 16. For more info on current plays and how to donate, click here.
