While some in the tourism sector struggled, Victoria Playhouse Petrolia bounced back after pandemic restrictions eased.

A report to Petrolia Council shows the theatre brought in $1,140,298 during the 2022 season – about $40,000 more than the theatre projected in its budget.

The VPP – like all theatres across the province – put its summer season on hold in the spring of 2020, just months into the COVID-19 pandemic. The theatre, which can draw up to 40,000 people a year, didn’t open again until April this year. And the patrons, many of who had held onto tickets purchased in 2020, came back to see the long delayed season.

Laurissa Ellsworth, director of marketting, arts and communications for Petrolia, says while revenue exceeded projections, there were fewer people in the seats in 2022 than there were in 2019.

Statistics show there were 33,965 tickets sold in 2019. This past season, 29,411 people came through the doors. That’s a 13.4 per cent decrease from 2019. Ellsworth said revenue kept pace after the VPP raised ticket prices by about $5 a piece. The theatre had been increasing tickets each year pre-pandemic to keep up with the cost of inflation.

There was one area where ticket sales were not nearly as strong as 2019 – group sales. VPP sold 977 group tickets this year compared to 2,395 in 2019.
The number of senior tickets was also down by about 900 year over year as were the single preview tickets. About 1,000 fewer were sold as the theatre started the season in April.