In a way, the COVID-19 pandemic could metaphorically mirror a very long curling throw.
Acting as the rock, the virus starts at zero, can start trending left or right on its way to the house and it’s up to us as the players to smooth down a path where we can hit that zero-infections button at the other end of the ice sheet.
For Theatre NorthWest, it’s next play, Hurry Hard!, won’t feature any real ice, but the organization is hoping to avoid any slippery slope in waiting patiently to host live productions with two currently on the bill for April and May 2021.
Executive Director Marnie Hamagami says by hosting stage readings, it can still provide the entertainment local residents have been missing for several months while also protecting its artists.
“We have pretty strict COVID-19 protocols in place for our audiences,” she said when asked by PrinceGeorgeMatters about the first two stage experiences, which has resulted in lessons learned.
“In fact, after the first stage reading, we realized there were some places where maybe we could just relax a little bit. We kept all the doors across the front of the theatre open to avoid people touching the handles, but then we froze inside. It was one of those things that we thought we could just relax a bit. For the most part though, audiences have been cooperative and, you know, we understand that not everyone is willing to come out.”
She says one of the reasons stage-readings work well, at this point, is that it reduces production cost for a live performance and the non-profit’s funders have been understanding of the current circumstances.
Hamagami adds the organization hopes to apply this method and its lessons learned into its scheduled plays next year, but also says now is a time to focus on safety.
“If British Columbia is not at the place where we can have more than 50 people in the audience, Theatre NorthWest is not going to put on a play in the spring, We firmly believe that now is not the time for loopholes. We believe that we should be following all of the provincial and regional health mandates; we want to take the time right now to figure out how to operate our industry in this new reality, what that looks like and what that’s going to look like moving forward.”
Hurry Hard! tells the story of a curling club and a team that needs to corral a few more people together ahead of a championship bonspiel.
The play by Kirsten Da Silva, and presented locally by Bradley Charles, will be prop-less, has multiple story-lines that will mesh together and is also set to include physical comedy at a COVID-distanced setting.
Charles explains there’s a balance with the blend with actors simply reading a script on a stage in front of a live audience, which was noted from Theatre North West’s first two stage-reads of The Importance of Being Earnest and Where You Are.
“There are moments where the actors can kind of look away from their page because it’s mimed contact. So we’ve had a little more rehearsal for this one than we have, that I’m aware of, for the others just so to make sure that we translate that in that it’s coming across as funny as it is. What we’ve learned from the first two readings is that once you’re three lines in the show, your imagination just fills it in. It just works because it’s consistent and the actors are committed to the moment. It’s tough to go back and forth between reading and acting, but the audience hasn’t minded it at all.”
Hamagami says stage-readings will be taking place most weekends will be until the end of November.
“We’re really excited about this play because it is really the hope here at Theatre NorthWest that we’ll be able to do a full stage production of this in the future.”
For more information and ticket sales, you can visit the Theatre NorthWest website.
