playbill vip

Going into our Fall Theatre season, we were faced with a challenge:  How do we do theatre in a pandemic?  How do we safely and responsibly bring students together on stage?  What happens if a cast member gets sick?  What happens if multiple cast members get sick?  Many theatre programs across the country were cancelling their seasons when faced with these questions.  We, however, did the opposite: We doubled down.  

2020 has been a year of firsts, and Postville Pirate Theatre will be no different.  For the first time, we are not just doing one, but two Fall productions.  For the first time, we will be livestreaming our plays. For the first time, we will be utilizing a digital ticketing platform to help manage social distancing in the auditorium.   And, for the first time, we will be using digital programs.  We hope these will be positive changes to our theatre department and, as far as live streaming and digital programs go, things we will continue to do in the future.

When selecting our shows for the season, we knew we wanted to do plays that would allow us to have fewer students at rehearsals, so we could socially distance and mitigate any potential spread.  It was during a conversation with some of the students following our delayed Spring production, Don't Drink the Water, that inspired us to do this show.  Estevan asked, "What is the best show you have ever done?"  The answer was Almost, Maine, hands down.  

First, its one of the best scripts written this century.  You'll be hard pressed to find a script with dialogue and characters as good as this.  Second, the tech and the sets we built the first time around were some of the best we had ever done.  It was so much fun creating the effects for the Northern Lights and the night sky and the reactions we got from the audience were a joy to see.  Last, every single one of our actors on the first production of Almost, Maine did the best work they had ever done on that show.  They loved the material and wanted to do their very best.

The next question Estevan had was "Would you ever do it again?". "Of course," we said.  It was then the realization struck:  Almost, Maine never has more than three actors on stage at a time.  Each character only appears in just one scene.  If ever there was a show tailored for our current situation, this was it.  We wouldn't need to have 20+ kids at a rehearsal; not right away, at least.  If an actor did get sick and couldn't come to rehearsals or a performance, it would only affect one scene instead of the whole show.  This could work!  And, as we write this on the eve of the first performance, we can report that things have gone mostly to plan.  

Its been a great experience producing Almost, Maine.  We had a pretty good idea of what worked well and what areas we could improve upon from the first time around.  Its been fun working with the actor's and seeing their interpretation of the characters.  It may be the same script, the same characters and the same dialogue, but its a totally new presentation.  Its a credit to our performers to be able to take their scenes, which we, as directors, were so familiar with and make them feel like we were seeing them for the first time again.