Perpich Arts Theater Performance Stream

Perpich students spotlight traditionally feminine crafts, frontier voices On a cold night, there’s nothing better than snuggling up under a big quilt. But beyond the seams and color patches, the fabric tells a story.

Note from the Director:

Putting on a play during the COVID-19 pandemic takes lots of creativity and flexibility, and the challenges were those that we’ve never had to confront before. However, we did find ways to overcome the struggles by devising and reworking aspects of Anton Chekhov’s script by placing all characters in a chatroom for isolation during an influenza (covid) outbreak. The claustrophobic feel reflects Chekhov’s use of space in the original with many characters in small rooms of a large Russian estate.

Figuring out how to stage "Three Sisters" and tell the story while the entire cast was distant rehearsing was one of the biggest challenges. Trying to figure out how to tell the story under all of the conditions becomes a problem-solving nightmare that we all had to manage creatively. We had to rely on devising new ways of storytelling to capture the contemporary and existential essence of the story. The way characters act and react to each other is much more cinematic and takes on a cinéma vérité style.

We discussed three concepts for the performance: a live performance, a hybrid performance, and an online performance. We considered options of filming but chose to go with live, online streaming of the performance once we went to distance learning because it is after all, live theater.

The Perpich Acting Ensemble agrees that they can’t wait for things to go back to “normal”, as the communal aspect of live theater is what makes it so special. However, until the pandemic is over, they are making the most out of it and showing great commitment and creativity to the process.

Special thanks to: Toni Beckler, Betsy Anderson, Bob Frey, Conn McCartan, Rebecca Bullen, Mike Sande, Greg Naumann, Karla Donner, Kevin Hohlstein, Cindy Ladany.