A week of virtual theater
To break up the doomscrolling
As returns early pandemic living, so returns the daily companionship of virtual theater.
New York right now is not, of course, the New York of March/April. (Yet. Possibly should be.) But as cases rise and collective anxiety builds, I am mostly hunkering down.
Thankfully, this past week I had virtual theater appointments every night to keep me company.
MONDAY: Mute Swan by Madeleine George, the latest offering from Theater In Quarantine. A solo piece, beautifully performed by Chris Bell. George’s text re-imagines the Greek myth of Cygnus, who mourns the loss of a demi-god lover so intensely that he turns into a swan.
George’s text was often impenetrable, but I found director/choreographer Katie Rose McLaughlin’s movement work (assisted by Raja Feather Kelly) thoughtful and entrancing. As that signature 2' x 4' x 8’ closet theater rotated and Bell tore at its seams, I was again astonished that this was really live.
Bell himself is the main draw here. His sweet, soothing tones remained steady even as the play’s events grew more tragic.
TUESDAY: Checked-in with my good friends Brandon Jacob-Jenkins, Samuel D. Hunter and Annie Baker, as part of an aspirational Signature Theatre season announcement. Their plays sound amazing. I hope they will really exist. Annie Baker absolutely hates Zoom, like on a profoundly physical level. Her body writhed in discomfort throughout.
Then it was right into Broadway VS: André de Shields vs. Lillias White, a fundraiser for Broadway Advocacy Coalition and the Cody Renard Richard Scholarship. Just an incredibly good time. Would be even better three or four beers deep in a raucous crowd, but there you are.
Some highlights: André de Shields dubbing director Jerry Mitchell “a good white man”; Lillias White leaping to her feet for “Mama Will Provide”; and de Shields declaring of Thomas Schumacher declining Mary Zimmerman’s Jungle Book for Broadway: “He can be wrong, too.”
WEDNESDAY: My personal highlight of the week: The Bath Play by Non Kuramoto, part of Producer’s Club 2020 at the New Ohio Theatre. Kuramoto takes us on a virtual tour of a Japanese “sentou” - a communal bathhouse. While guiding us from room to room, Kuramoto discusses the pain of the extended distance from her family in Japan; speaks of how such extended distance is already a reality for many immigrants; and questions her own nostalgia for Japan, wondering if “the grass will always be greener.”
Bath Play found a wonderful balance between Kuramoto’s moving reflections and her (sometimes painfully) evocative descriptions of each bathtub option. I found it so soothing to hear Kuramoto describe each bath’s individual pleasures...if also sad, as I stared at a still image.
THURSDAY: Baltimore Center Stage offered a reading of Caryl Churchill’s short work Seagulls, directed by Jenny Koons. A lesser known Churchill, it’s about a store clerk who earns overnight fame for her telekinetic powers.
In the lead, Jenny Jules was incredible. Her expressive and precise work brought clarity to moments where Churchill’s text doesn’t necessarily provide it.
As with a lot of Churchill’s work, Seagulls requires some unpacking. Center Stage smartly opened and closed with a discussion providing context. Talkbacks were anathema to me in the before times - but online, where experts can take total control of the conversation, I’ve found them more enjoyable.
FRIDAY: I started with Michelle J Rodriguez’s charming, familial Ars Nova concert, streamed from her apartment with no backing except her own pre-recorded vocals. Rodriguez is a delight and her voice is heavenly. I loved being invited into the experience via the chat - first Rodriguez thanked us sweetly for every compliment, then she closed with a song built from phrases we’d dropped in the comments.
Then it was right into Bill Irwin’s magical On Beckett / In Screen, filmed on the Irish Rep stage to an empty house. Gorgeously shot and produced by Irwin and M. Florian Staab, it’s one of the finest on-stage captures I’ve seen. The show jumps between Beckett readings and Irwin’s own reflections, including a fantastic section on performing Godot alongside Nathan Lane.
Irwin and Irish Rep have, separately, emerged as unlikely theatrical heroes of shutdown times. Irwin has churned out charming virtual works for The Old Globe and now Irish Rep, plus an outdoor piece for Vineyard Theater. Irish Rep has produced multiple virtual shows, with more still to come. All that work has been either cheap or free. Due credit to Irwin and to the Rep, both of whom hit the ground running before others had even accepted the new reality.
SATURDAY: Saturday night was just Play-PerView’s The Burdens, written by Matt Schatz, featuring William Jackson Harper and Ali Ahn. It was a thin and ultimately implausible little play, if well performed by two charming actors. Schatz’s script includes many scenes of “text speak” and personally, I don’t need that extra layer of remove on top of the remove we’re already starting with. Play-PerView’s programming has grown less exciting of late after a solid start, but I’m hopeful they can bounce back.
SUNDAY: To conclude, another Producer’s Club offering. In Madeleines: Tell Me What It Was Like, writer/performers Mike Lala and Iris McCloughan trade poetic reflections on paths not taken and divergences forced by COVID.
I like these relaxed, unfocused, just kinda “chill” Zoom pieces. You couldn’t do it in the same way on a stage. An audience that got on the subway after a long day at work might not be as keen to hear you wax poetic on the placement of furniture in your childhood home.
But on Zoom, exhausted from a week of endless doomscrolling - I kinda am! Let’s just talk. I’ll let it wash over me. While I listen, I’m also thinking about the death, and the coup, and the sadness. So sure, maybe I am not 100% with you at every moment. But please, please. Please keep talking.
