Photo Flash: Take a Look at THE DRIFTWOOD BRIDGE, Now Streaming

Do you ever feel like a castaway on the beach of life, marooned and left to do your best with whatever you can find on the shore? Knowing only that the mysterious tide that washed you up here when you were born, will one day wash you away again? And the best you can hope for is to fill the uncertain time between by giving and receiving as much love as you possibly can?" So begins "The Driftwood Bridge."

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Like other theatre artists and performers around the world, David Mielke and Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma had their plans overturned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their original offering of story and song, "The Driftwood Bridge," was supposed to run in Seattle for 5 weeks and had to be postponed. But rather than bemoaning the show's temporary fate, they've turned to presenting theatre in new ways, starting online with the free streaming premiere of a filmed version of the show's most recent production. "People continue to tell us how much the show has meant to them," Mielke said. "Since it touches on themes that have become even more relevant in these challenging times, we wanted to make it available in people's homes."

"The Driftwood Bridge: An Offering of Story and Song" is a two-person theatrical and musical memoir about taking experiences that wash up on the existential beaches of our lives and using them to build a bridge to carry us forward. The show explores life after loss, intergenerational forgiveness, and the ways mentors and friends help us feel ready to say yes to love-gay, straight, or otherwise. With Pruiksma on piano, each performer alternately tells their own story and sings songs-about letting go of old shame, learning to trust, and acknowledging the mystery of life. As with many rituals honoring what is known but unseen, the show bows to the joyful play of what seems to be serendipity.

The show is currently streaming for free on driftwoodbridge.com, where Mielke and Pruiksma are also showcasing another Covid-coping endeavor, a video series called "Broadway in the Yurt." (https://driftwoodbridge.com/broadway-in-the-yurt/) The series offers videos of beloved Broadway show tunes with a twist. Although it began simply as a means of creative expression, the series has turned out to be a way of deepening their relationship as they realized they could use the making of the videos to whimsically resolve issues of conflict that arose under the pressures of being cooped up in lockdown together.