BKLYN: The Stay-at-Home Version was a learning curve for everyone involved. Pretty much everyone learned to navigate through Zoom calls and much more over the past year and most learned how to do something new in the virtual world. I'm not one to pursue digital adventures, at least not too far past Facebook, IG, YouTube and your casual Google search and online shopping, so when I was itching to do a show and knew it would have to be virtual I decided it was my turn to learn a few things. BKLYN was one of the first thoughts I had because it is a small cast with themes and issues that are still prevalent today. I had lots of help from friends when learning how to use Zoom to simulate a normal rehearsal process. Translating a normal show process to virtual involved many moments of me stumbling until I figured it out. Having all of the actors film, alone, in their own homes was also a very unique experience. Normally actors get to act and react with people on stage, fueling emotions and living in the moment, that's what we all love about live theatre. However, in virtual theatre they have to film alone with a pre-recorded track of the actors reading their lines. This is much harder to do than you would believe.
After last summer's tragic murders sparking a major surge in the Black Lives Matter movement, I thought the best way for me to help was to amplify others' voices. BKLYN was the clear choice to achieve my goal through art. One of the main goals of the production team was to ensure an expansion of diversity when casting the show. Doing the show virtually allowed us to find cast members from up and down the East Coast that would help us achieve these goals.
We also knew that we would be dealing with such heavy themes as suicide, homelessness, drug addiction, and PTSD. These themes involved us in some great discussions and research into how humans find themselves in the situations. They can be triggering when seen on screen so we made sure to include resources if you are watching this production and feel that you need help. Please locate the links and numbers and contact them for help.Thank you for joining our virtual production of BKLYN and we hope to see you next year in person! -TJ Lukacsina
RESOURCES & OUTREACH
Suicide:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Maryland Suicide Prevention Program​:
https://bha.health.maryland.gov/suicideprevention/Pages/home.aspx
The Maryland Suicide Prevention Program is not a crisis or emergency care center. If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact Maryland’s crisis hotline by calling 2-1-1 and pressing option 1 or texting 898-211.
Military Veterans Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-TALK (Press 1)
PTSD:
Veterans Crisis Line
The Veterans Crisis Line connects Veterans and their families & friends with qualified, caring responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat, or text. Call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, or send a text message to 838255 to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Drug Addiction:
SAMHSA National Helpline:1-800-662-4357
Maryland Recovery
24/7 Hotline: 877-762-3766
https://www.marylandrecovery.com/resources/mental-health/trauma
