BWW Blog: Theatre Kids on Lockdown

NEVER a good idea. Even though I consider myself to be one of the more introverted theatre kids, being cooped up in my house for the past week has a huge struggle for me. Not being busy literally every second of the day has been killing me and I feel myself to be at a loss for what to do next. I cooooullllddd organize my playbills for the 60th time or I could make yet another scrapbook reminiscing the passing of some of my favorite productions I was in like Into the Woods or The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. The truth is, people like us, we need to be bold. We need to entertain. We need to express who we are and the feelings pulsing through our bodies, otherwise, we bare no more pain and boredom. So this is me calling out to all you artists stuck at home (keep yourselves safe and do your best to stay at home during this pandemic! - without us, there is no one to warn the rest of the world not to see Cats, like, ever). Don't use this time to flop around and watch Newsies AGAIN - we get it, you wanna go to Santa Fe, I wanna go too but hey buddy we're on quarantine time now. Use this time to create! Create great art, create bad art. Who cares! Continue to grow as an artist and explore new forms of expression through the safety of your own home.

For years now, I've been working towards becoming a playwright and a director. I finally got the opportunity to get two shows I wrote produced (one directed by myself and the other directed by a superhero named Theresa. We have been working on these shows for weeks now, but as life goes, our productions can no longer go up the way we originally intended them to. Our game plan?

pAnIC!!!!!!

No, no, wait, not that. We have to figure out something else! My team and I have been Skyping and Zooming and racking our brains trying to figure out what the heck we're supposed to do. The show I wrote and am directing, Bisque in Glory, is a campy comedy about lobsters taking over the world - there are fights and passionate dances and lots and lots of soup. How on earth am I supposed to put this on when none of my actors can be in the same room together let alone have any physical contact? Technology isn't at a place where our holograms can rehearse like that quite yet. We're doing *drum roll please...* a VIRTUAL PUPPET SHOW!! Over the next few weeks, my cast and I will be making puppets over Zoom together, then after our "stay at home" order is over, my assistant director and I will be picking up the puppets and filming the show. Then, I will have my actors dub over it. Long story short, it won't be the same show we've been rehearsing for weeks. It won't be our original vision or anything near it - but now is the time for change. New ideas, new processes, new everything. Because even if the world around us collapses, we have to hold up ourselves and those around us with art and expression. The world lives on telling stories. And I intend to keep doing that, no matter how long I am stuck sitting on my bed or making even more pasta for lunch. I live to tell stories, and if you're reading this, I think you do too. Don't let the virus silence your voice. Don't let quarantine trap you in your head. You are bigger than this. Keep creating, keep sharing, keep living - even if you can't do it in person for a bit.