In 2020 the highland arts theatre created a brand new fundraising initiative called Radical Access. It’s singular goal to make theatre more accessible than ever on Cape BReton island, while assisting in the sustainability of our theatre presence in downtown sydney. We put out a call for monthly donations, and in exchange we promised to provide entirely free tickets to all of our mainstage productions, annually award 100 scholarships to the HAT Academy, and produce more original work from cape breton voices than ever before.

Thanks to the generosity of thousands of donors from across Cape Breton Island and around the world, the program was embraced. we were able to raise the necessary funds in ongoing monthly donations (or the one-time equivalent) to ensure our survival through the pandemic and beyond. This support continues to ensure the continuity of our work in meaningful ways.

Over the years our Radical Access program not only saved our theatre, but made national news with coverage in the Globe and Mail and the New York Times (seen below).

Since 2020 radical access has continued and evolved beyond its initial aim of survival. While monthly donations have decreased We continue to offer limited free seats for all mainstage performances for anyone in need, all of our mainstage shows also feature a pay-what-you-choose preview at the beginning of each run, and the HAT Academy has continually given out 100 scholarships annually, since 2020.

Radical access by the numbers

Since the inception of Radical Access in 2020, we have had the privilege of producing:

48 Mainstage Productions

47,723 Free Tickets for our Community

485 Youth Scholarships for Arts Education

20 New Plays by Cape Breton Creators