A CERTAIN UNCERTAIN
I found myself alternately laughing, weeping, and being in the doldrums watching this new interdisciplinary work from the company Source Material. Founding Artistic Director Samantha Shay has created a compelling live virtual experience with In These Uncertain Times, created for and presented on Zoom. The 60-minute piece centers on life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Six actors — James Cowan, Miles Hartfelder, Annelise Lawson, Stephanie Regina, Raven Scott, Victoria Sendra, and Grace Tiso — play themselves as they try to connect on Zoom.
Yet this isn’t a play; it’s a performance piece in many parts. Watching all six drink to excess is hysterical; listening to Stephen Jenkinson’s gorgeous monologue about grieving and love in the darkness will break your heart; Victoria Sendra and Ms. Shay’s video compilations of Facebook posts on how folks are dealing with the pandemic worldwide are supremely entertaining; and one section with silent, scrolling dialogue truly highlights the dangerous ennui that is born from a lack of physical connectedness. (One actor says, “As of tonight, we have called off tomorrow.”) Above all this is wonderment: how will this epidemic change theater? While this highly recommended, thought-provoking work makes me miss theater more than ever (listen for those tragi-comic Chekhov monologues), it is a lovely time-capsule of how theater artists are able to survive in these daunting times.
Text by James Cowan, Will Eno, Peter Handke, Miles Hartfelder, Annelise Lawson, Stephanie Regina, Raven Scott, Samantha Shay, and Grace Tiso. Additional text from Anton Chekhov, and Stephen Jenkinson.
screenshots taken by Tony Frankel
In These Uncertain Times — A Zoom Play
Source Material
now on Zoom
ends on August 2, 2020
for tickets on a sliding scale donation, visit Event Brite
for more info, visit Source Material
