Bakkhai Variations:
Villanova Theatre
Zoom Theatre
Many have cited the old adage “necessity is the mother of invention” in challenging times, and this quarantine and its intersection with live art has been a true test of that idea. By commissioning playwrights to generate plays specifically intended to be done through Zoom or a similar electronic format, Villanova Theatre has entrusted its alum to harvest from largely untilled soil. If one is interested in how other organizations and artists have tackled this challenge, however, below are some examples of work being done in this space.
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One of the largest repositories for this new approach to theatre can be experienced through the Play at Home project. What started as a group endeavor with Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, The Public Theater, Repertory Theater of St Louis & Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has blossomed to include about 20 additional companies. Their work is always intended to be done in a digital space but they experiment with cast size, setting, and, of course, content. Some favorites of the dramaturg include And the World Opened Up by Ngozi Anyanwu, The Proxy by Lauren Yee, and Magic Garden by Cándido Tirado, but there are many more worth downloading and reading. This project serves as proof that there is a large desire to harness our time in quarantine to be playful and inventive with our theatre, perhaps even expanding the definition of theatre itself.
Cándido Tirado, playwright of Magic Garden, serving up tourist chic while standing in an ancient theater. (playathome.org)
The cast of She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms rehearsing on Zoom (The Washington Post)
Another notable project was the adaptation of Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters for Zoom. While the script is available in digital copy for $5, this Washington Post article covers some elements of the adaptation from stage to screen. Nguyen’s new version added “Zoom-friendly stage directions, a contemporary setting, and combat and dance sequences reimagined for a socially distant cast.” Moreover, length was a concern, so the U-Md faculty “wary of ‘Zoom fatigue,’ ... worked with Nguyen to trim the play’s 90-minute runtime to an hour. Zoom backgrounds and Snapchat filters became tools for depicting the sprawling Dungeons & Dragons-driven visuals.” This script is an excellent example of creating expansiveness and action inside of the confines of digital conferencing technology.
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On the other end of the spectrum, The Public produced their own Zoom play separate from the Play at Home initiative. Playwright Richard Nelson returned to his Apple family plays to put these archetypes of white suburbia in the pressure cooker of a Zoom family check-in. This review from the Daily Beast of the play entitled What Do We Need To Talk About? notes that “Despite all the words spoken in the preceding hour, the truly jolting, choking moments in this delicate play happen in silence, not just right there at the end but in all the expressions of the characters as other characters talk. We see all the flashes of worry, the calling-bullshit eyebrow-raises, the minds wandering, jokes, impatience, confusion, and loving indulgence. By letting us share this tender evening with the Apples, Nelson reveals how a play on Zoom can not only work as a concept, but be just as intimate and revelatory as a play on stage.” This piece demonstrates the power of letting the audience see every character’s face more closely than in a live setting.
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A screenshot from the live performance of What Do We Need To Talk About? (The Daily Beast)
The central idea to draw from these various examples ask playwrights crafting a script for a digital platform to deeply consider what remains constant and what has to change. The humanity, narrative, and liveness can be recreated much in the same way as a play on a stage in front of an audience. But what has to be adapted? How does one create intimacy and connection through a computer monitor? How do we establish rules that differentiate the play’s world from our world? What prevents characters from leaving the call when things get real? There is no single answer to any of these questions, but interrogating the unique qualities of a Zoom play will be foundational to generating an impactful experience.