TheSharedScreen Co.'s TAPE By Stephen Belber Extended Into December

Out of isolation, a new and powerful form of live performing art has emerged -- one in which the audience is virtually eye-to-eye with the players. TheSharedScreen Co.'s ground-breaking production of TAPE, by Stephen Belber, is an extraordinary demonstration of the power and intimacy of this new art form. Following a successful run in September, TAPE has been extended to the first three weekends in December (4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20 - 8 pm EST). Tickets and trailer are available at www.thesharedscreen.com/tape.

TheSharedScreen Co. recontextualized and adapted TAPE from three players in a motel room to three players in a Zoom call. A woman and two men (a high school love triangle) are forced to confront accusations and denials of rape. The production raises profound questions about coercion, consent, manipulation, and truth.

The TAPE experience is intensely intimate. Imagine you have stumbled into a live feed of a video call. You become an invisible witness, unseen and unheard. The play is the call. The production is straightforward: a virtual venue, laptops, cell phones, and webcams. The play is live, with no edits, cuts, or post-production magic. The acting demands extraordinary skills, preparation, and discipline. The players must be their own stage managers, lighting/set designers, techies, and live camera crews. Moreover, they must deliver live performances directly into tiny cameras, seamlessly engaging one another with no physical connection or eye contact. The result is riveting. The audience is drawn into these strangers' lives through their eyes, face-to-face.

Audiences who have seen this production have found it compelling and provocative. One viewer (a journalist and life-long theatergoer) expressed it in this way, "I don't know if it is the unique intimate confessional nature of the story, the acting, how they used the camera, but it was incredibly intimate, voyeuristic, and oh my God, all three of them could act. It worked so well in that medium I was astounded. It transcended the form. It felt like being in someone's life, witnessing something important instead of...a play. That's rare."

In announcing the extended run of TAPE, Neal Davidson, producer, said, "Our audiences have found deep meaning and connections to this play, and we believe it should be experienced by as many people as we can reach. Mr. Belber's work is timeless and more relevant than ever."

TheSharedScreen Co. is a 501(c)3 organization founded to make impactful live theater accessible to everyone.

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