My favourite thing about live performance is, duh, that it’s live — the intimacy and warmth of sharing something with an audience, the feeling of a large group of people breathing in sync as they ride the waves of a narrative together. Oh, I do miss that eleven months into this pandemic ridiculousness. Nonetheless, I have two theater events to tell you about, from two of my favourite theaters, where you can bring at least some of the intimacy and warmth of live theater into your home.
Post Script
This month Theatre New Brunswick introduces Post Script, a fun and original theater-by-mail project! When you buy tickets to one of three plays, you receive one postcard a week for six weeks, six instalments of a story sure to resonate with your current pandemic lifestyle. The scripts have been developed based on submissions received last spring in response to TNB’s call for tales from folks in lockdown. (I’m excited to be helping to adapt the material into mailable form!) Tickets are available to Canadians only, and I hear they’re selling quickly. Buy yours here!
Love Letters Made Easy
Special for Valentine’s Day, Vermont’s Lost Nation Theater offers an inventive hybrid production of Jeanne Beckwith’s comedy, Love Letters Made Easy, featuring one performer live in the theater interacting with virtual, Zoom performances from around North America! The show is free (although, of course, during these times, donations are especially appreciated), and will be live-streamed Friday, February 12. Pre-registration is required. Find all the information about how to join in here!
Remember to check in with your local theater makers to see what smart solutions they’ve come up with to MacGyvor their way through the pandemic shutdown, and please donate to arts organizations where you can. The arts and culture sector represents a huge portion of our local economies. Help to keep them alive!
ABBY PAIGE 