River & Main Theatre

Belleville, Ontario

When veteran stage actor Rick Zimmerman moved to Belleville from the County a few years ago, he was hoping to find a permanent home for the non-profit River & Main Theatre Company he had founded along with theatre partners Peter Paylor and Lisa Morris.

A storefront performance space seemed like a perfect fit for Belleville’s revitalized downtown core, a space to support local talent and the local economy as well. Finding empty space wasn’t a problem, but finding the right space was. The trio was giving up hope when they were approached by a downtown landlord who had heard about their vision through Marijo Cuerrier from the Downtown District BIA.

“It’s getting hard to remember now if it was our vision or if it was Paul’s,” says Zimmerman.

Paul is Paul Dinkel, of restaurants Paulo’s and Dinkels, who owns the building at 30 Bridge Street East, the one with the rainbow wings. “Paul was way ahead of us when it came to understanding the value a space like this can create towards bringing life back into the core. He’s a visionary who’s done this before.”

Soon plans were drawn up and the city issued a permit. Work got started on the theatre “In the Wings” -- a storefront performance space for small theatre productions and live music with an occupancy of 50 people.

Then COVID-19 hit and occupancy was out of the question. It looked like their hopes were dashed. “It’s hard to even plan now,” says Zimmerman. But the virus hasn’t stopped Paul Dinkel. It hasn’t even slowed him down. Since construction has been allowed to continue, he’s been going ahead with the plan. The theatre is still being built.

“We have no idea when it will be, but when the time is right, the space will be open – whether it’s for an audience of 10 people or 20 or 40,” says Zimmerman. “People are missing the magic of live performance, be it theatre or music or dance. It’s that particular sense of wonderment that only comes from sharing a space in community, coming together as an audience and laughing and crying and applauding – and standing at the end if it moves us. When the time is right, we’ll be ready.”

Rick Zimmerman

Photo by Imagine Photography/Sarah Kirby

In the meantime, Zimmerman has been hosting weekly Zoom chats with members of the theatre community: “This region has no shortage of talented actors and directors and writers and musicians, and they’re bringing great ideas to the table.”

Anyone interested in getting involved with River & Main Theatre Company or the new theatre “In the Wings” should get in touch with Rick or Peter or Lisa at riverandmaintheatre@gmail.com.

riverandmain.ca