The Catastrophic Theatre Delays 2021-22 Season Opening

The Catastrophic Theatre has announced that it will delay the 2021-22 season opener.

Read their full statement here:

"Due to the health and safety concerns with which we have all become too familiar, now made worse by Covid variants, overrun hospital capacities, and the rapidly growing case rates in Houston, Harris County, and the state of Texas, Catastrophic has delayed its planned season opener.

Several months ago, with vaccines on the horizon, we polled our audience to hazard a guess as to the conditions that would make them feel comfortable returning to live, indoor performance. At that time, our audience told us that they would return in September or October, if we were at half capacity, and required masking. We were grateful for this feedback and moved forward with these measures in mind. However, due to the Delta variant, vaccine hesitancy, and the refusal of our state government to allow even basic safety measures, things are even more uncertain than they were then.

Other, much larger theatres can put safety measures in place that are not feasible in the intimate space in which we perform. We cannot afford to significantly reduce capacity, nor do we own our space, so any necessitated delays in production (due to artists testing positive for COVID, for example) are not an option for us.

Over the course of the past 18 months, we pivoted to virtual, original plays, made our first forays into professional filmmaking, and created our favorite and most popular adaptive initiative, The Drama Squad. During these 18 months, we have also ached to share our plans for our return to the stage. We have prepared various seasons and multiple season announcements, but we have resisted the urge to promote performances we could not in good conscience promise to actually perform. We will not solicit season subscriptions in this

uncertain time and will instead launch a second membership campaign to join our Catastrophic Army. We will announce new productions one at a time in response to the pandemic.

Which brings us to some good news! We are planning to return to safer, outdoor performance with three public screenings of the latest in producing artistic director Tamarie Cooper's series of popular musicals and the third in a series of live in-person Drama Squad tours.

Tamarie Cooper's Golden Jubilee!

(Streaming August 13-September 5. Outdoor viewing parties August 14, 21,28 on the rooftop of KHON'S Wine Darts Coffee Art, 2808 Milam)

It's 2021 and Tamarie is now 50 years old!! Just like any fabulous queen, she's celebrating her 50 years of existence with an all-new episode of her robust and ridiculous virtual series. But not to worry, this is no AARP commercial. Tamarie and friends playfully riff on the theme of "50", including not only this comedy crone's 50 year-old ass, but also that damn 50 pounds that won't go away, and Tamarie's collection of 50 bad dates. Featuring all new original songs, scenes, dance numbers, and adorable pet appearances, with a cast of crazies helping us all ride out another Houston summer, Tamarie style! This summer's show will also be screened on three consecutive Saturdays. In this way, audiences that prefer to watch from the safety of their homes can do so and those that wish to view a live screening in a public space can do that too. Public screenings of Tamarie Cooper's Golden Jubilee will occur August 14, 21, and 28 on the rooftop of KHON's Wine Darts Coffee Art, located at 2808 Milam.

The Drama Squad Returns!

September 24th through October 17th, locations and times TBD

Last fall and winter, Catastrophic dispatched teams to the backyards and driveways of the homes of audiences to perform entirely original work in a masked, socially distanced format for no more than 10 masked, socially distanced audience members at a time. Including music, dance, comedy, drama, puppetry, and more, The Drama Squad did not repeat itself, creating and performing 4 completely original and completely different performances. This fall, The Drama Squad will take it to another level, touring outdoor spaces where we can perform for larger audiences while continuing to implement safety measures such as masking and distancing. Please visit our website and social media pages for announcements of dates, times, and locations.

We cannot wait to return to performing for you inside a traditional theater space. We'll keep you posted about upcoming productions beyond The Drama Squad. For now, please get vaccinated, take good care, and do what you can to stay safe.

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