Town Hall Theater Presents Encore Presentation of THE BEAMS ARE CREAKING 

It was an experiment, and no one was sure it would work: a live production of a play, with actors spread out across the country, streaming live on YouTube. The play was Doug Anderson's The Beams Are Creaking, based on the life of German minister and resistance fighter Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Anderson had pulled together some of the best actors in Vermont for the performance, including Mark Nash, Steve Small, Karen Lefkoe and Ethan Bowen. Los Angeles-based actor L. Stephen Phelan signed on for the central role of Bonhoeffer. Mary Longey, Town Hall Theater's production manager, worked for weeks to master the complex technology. When the performance began on October 22, everyone held their breath and jumped into the performance.

It turned out to be a massive hit. With very few technical glitches and a wide audience, email praise flooded into Anderson's mailbox the moment the virtual curtain rang down. "I have tears in my eyes," said one viewer. "We were mesmerized," said another. Adjectives like "gripping," "timely" and "brilliant" were a common refrain.

"I've never received responses like that," says Anderson, artistic director of Town Hall Theater. "We worried that an online performance could never be as effective as an evening in the theater, but we shouldn't have. If anything, the close-ups afforded by YouTube made the performances that much more vivid."

One person confirmed that view, writing, "I was a changed person at the end."

The live performance was recorded, and THT has obtained the rights for an encore showing. THE BEAMS ARE CREAKING will be shown again on Sunday, November 1, at 7:30 EDT. The broadcast will be free of charge.

"Bonhoeffer's story really speaks to people these days," says Anderson. "It's about taking a stand, acting on your beliefs in turbulent times. He's very well known in Europe, one of the heroes of the resistance to Hitler, but he's not very well known here, so it's a pleasure and an honor to introduce him to this community. The link to access the free online production can be found at www.townhalltheater.org.

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