Sad news to relate, but the 2011 Slapsticon festival of rarely seen comedies from the silent and early sound eras has been cancelled. The organisers have provided this note of apologies and explanation:
It is with profound regret that we are announcing the cancellation of Slapsticon 2011 and Slapsticon’s severing of relations with the Artisphere, the new group that replaced the old Arlington County Cultural Affairs this year that had presented the Slapsticon at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theater since 2003.
Unfortunately, disagreements over last-minute contract negotiations forced no further option, and we apologize to all for this inconvenience. We assure you this decision was not made lightly or arbitrarily. Those who have sent in registrations will have their checks returned or payments refunded and if you have questions about registration refunds you can send an email to mgaffen [at] arlingtonva.us or call Maggie Gaffen at 703-228-1841.
We are currently examining other options and offers to move this event, and we’ll let you all know these plans when we’ve made decisions regarding this. We want to thank the fine folk at Arlington County Cultural Affairs for their support of Slapsticon over the last eight years. It is now time to move on.
Let’s hope pastures new are found soon.
The Bioscope 