Dear Friends,
 
On Tuesday May 27th a fire broke out in the home of Canadian theatre icon Sharon Pollock. Sharon is fine; she was sleeping when the fire started but she woke up and managed to get out of her house in time. The cause of the fire was very likely electrical; starting in her basement and growing very quickly, igniting rubber mats which released highly toxic fumes as they burned. Because of this toxicity and damage to the home, Sharon will be unable to return  to her house for an estimated eight to ten months.
 
The damage is  extensive with most of Sharon’s belongings either lost in the fire or severely smoke damaged. While insurance will cover some restoration and rebuilding costs, Sharon is now facing considerable financial expenses. She also lost one of her cats in the fire and had to put two more down because of smoke inhalation.
 
As word spread in the days following the fire, it became clear that many people in the theatre community and the community-at-large who appreciate, respect and sympathize with Sharon are wanting to offer their help and support to her at this time. Given Sharon’s close connection to Downstage (we produced her play Man Out of Joint in 2007 and she was performing in Habitat just a few hours after the fire - the ultimate example of her dedication to the theatre), we are now coordinating the efforts to help Sharon through the daunting time ahead.
 
If you would like to lend help and/or support to Sharon, here are a few things you can do. We are taking a collection for Sharon to attempt to ease her newfound financial burden. As Sharon is currently without stable coordinates, if you would like to donate money you can either drop off cash or mail a cheque to the Downstage office, located in the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts upstairs from Centre Court (mailing address below). If it is more convenient to phone, we can also take a donation by credit card (Downstage will pay all fees for processing) and we will coordinate getting all donations to Sharon. If you have something else to offer, like information on a temporary housing situation that would allow Sharon to stay with her two dogs, we are happy to pass on any message to her. Or, if you would simply like to offer words of hope and support you can send them to us by e-mail or through our facebook page and we will compile them for her.
 
Finally, we ask that you please spread the word to other individuals you feel may want to help so we can rally together a lot of support for Sharon in this difficult time.  You can forward them this message or direct them to our website www.downstage.ca for this information. Thank you very much for your support.
 
Yours truly,
Julie Mortensen and Simon Mallett
 
Downstage
Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts
205 8th Avenue SE - Calgary AB T2G 0K9
p. 294.7459 - e. info@downstage.ca