Theater in Tumultuous Times

These are strange times we live in. But as a group, we try to get together as best we can. Here you can read a story by our director Jo about her experiences in working with the open group in times of crisis.

March 13th

It was Friday the 13th of March when my phone was blowing up with cancelled gigs and messages from scared players who were wondering whether to come to rehearsal the next day. Being strong and decisive has been hard for me the last four months since I lost my dear father, but somehow that made this decision easy and clear. Death is only real when it gets real, and for me it already was.

Over the years many of the lovely people I directed have gone through hard times. One thing however, that always lifted their spirit, was the rehearsals. I can run a tight ship, I ask for commitment so we can always keep going forward, but there is always space for each person in the room.

And just minutes after tears were shed, a smile appeared after crazy exercises with a loving group around them. To be able to create that for someone, one moment during the week to let go, have fun and still grow and learn, is the most extraordinary thing. At the moment, it is my beacon. Last Wednesday we had another Skype rehearsal and at one point everyone was starting to get into character and freely play around with it, sometimes barely containing their laughter. My heart felt lifted, and even though we were all sitting behind our computer, in that moment, we were back in our rehearsal space and back together. There is true magic in theater, and there always will be.