How The Audience will Receive it?

This play takes place in the here and now. It takes place in a bar. Actors will come in wearing masks, so that will help to ground the context of the play and hopefully make the content of the play be received more easily. Everybody wants human connection. Everybody wants to feel special. Everyone wants to feel loved. Everyone wants to know that their partner cares for them.

It’s relatable.

We have individual rehearsals and then transition what we’ve worked on in those rehearsals to our group rehearsals. We develop characters’ spines, motivations, beats and tactics and discuss them as a group. We have a lot of great discussions about what we think the characters experienced before the play began, what led them to this point in the play, and analyzing the change in tactics when the other person presents a new obstacle.

We have also done a lot of relationship building, discussing how the other actor presents parts of their character. It’s like a sword fight. Your partner attacks and you defend, and it goes back and forth until you find resolution in the end.

What will the audience get out of your show?

Each of the characters are dealing with something that a lot of people are dealing with right now. Paige is dealing with the loss of her mother and all of the feelings that go along with that. Annie is dealing isolation and not having anyone around to support her or talk to her. Considering the current situation, there are tons of people who are dealing with loneliness or loss of a loved one. The show really explores how each character is trying to deal with these things and in the moment of the play, they are trying to make a new decision, trying to find a new way to combat the feelings they are struggling with. In the end, it comes down to the fact that both of them need human connection—that is the source of healing for them and the only way they can overcome their. I think the resolution of this show recognizes peoples’ struggles and provides the solution. The simplest thing like having sandwiches with someone might be the first step towards healing and recovery. I hope that the show resonates with today’s audience because of that aspect. At the beginning of the pandemic, we heard a lot about the mental health crisis that was going to stem from it and how we should reach out to those around us. Just give someone a call and say “Hey. How are you doing?” I hope this show reminds them to do that. Provide that connection because you never know what that will do for someone.

Process

I wanted my show to be very organic. When we start using Zoom screens and computers, we start to get detached from the real world, so I wanted to get back to something that was natural. I figured one way to do that was to make the conversation take place over an actual Zoom call. The show intentionally takes place over video chat. I think that’s what differentiates my show from the rest. That has to feel real because the story is so real. One character is dying and the other is trying to comfort them. I wanted to play into the idea that you can still get emotion from a screen. I wanted to make things seem very natural, to make the conversation sound like it would if they were talking in person, so that the audience feels like they are intruding on a Zoom call.



Aging The Characters

They’re college students so I’m putting my actors in clothes that are more mature. We decided not to go with makeup but aging them through their costumes. The show is about death, but I didn’t want to make it a ‘gloom and doom’ show. I wanted to have a show that celebrated the soul of the person. Death isn’t just about death—it’s about the life of the person. So, I tried to make it lighthearted. I think we have become desensitized to the word ‘death’ nowadays. Behind every count is a person that once walked the earth. They have a story and it’s important to remember that. That’s what this play touches on in a lighthearted way. Even if someone dies, the memory of that person will never die. The fact that we are going to die eventually is what makes life worth living. That’s why we have to hold onto the little things like conversations with our best friends or getting coffee in the morning.

That’s one of the things that I love about theatre—that there is a finality to it. At some point, the show ends and that’s what makes it meaningful.

Opel will live forever in Tropie’s mind. This friendships between the two characters will never die, even though one of them is dying. It will be the eternal thing that hold them together in the end.

Park Lytle: Contact

Process

My overall vision was mainly to stay away from the basic, traditional science fiction. The play does take place on a spaceship; it is futuristic and sci-fi. But that’s more the backdrop than anything. I think the play is more about the psychological, almost horror story. They don’t need to be on a spaceship. They could be anywhere. It’s about the inner workings of the characters and less about the environment around them.

Each rehearsal, I focus on something new and try to keep my actors from getting too complacent. We have some traditions that we do—warm-up and run-through—then we delve into a particular facet of the show. Sometimes, it’s vocal work. Sometimes, it’s relationship work, physical work. Sometimes, we just talk and ask questions. We are always working on something new, so the actors never know what to expect from  

Voice Only Actor

It makes the priorities that I have for that actor different/ I’m not concerned about what she looks like or what she’s doing physically. I need to make sure that whatever she would be doing physically is translated through her voice. It needs to be a little less realistic. If she were talking just like how you would expect someone to talk, it’s not as clear unless you make it more presentational and excessive. That way, we can feel those emotions and paint a better picture in our heads of what she’s feeling and what she’s doing. As for Emily, because she is the only character we see, in a sense, she has to carry the physical load for both characters. So there are contrasts to the different needs for each actor.

How will the audience will react to the show?

I am hoping that the audience resonates with the themes of isolation and loneliness. We’ve spent a really long time now in lockdowns, separated, and not able to be physically in contact with others. I’m hoping that those feelings will be unearthed when they see this show. Even though this is not a recognizable world to them, the feelings that they see in the characters will be their feelings even though the situation is different.

Process

I wanted this show to feel very real and honest. One of my favorite things about my show is the discussions around relationships and competence and love—things that are relatable to people in so many contexts. I spend lots of time with my actors discussions character and relationship to make sure that’s brought out in a strong way. We worked a lot with language and physicality to really bring these two characters to live. One of the more challenging aspects of this production is figuring out the technical qualities.

Camera Placement

Camera placement and body positioning are very important. I want my actors to be in a version of profile, so they look like they are facing each other. Also, they hand books back and forth to each other and so we had to figure out the logistics of book hand-offs. First, we had to make sure each actors had books that looked the same and make sure they were holding them in the correct way. Then they had to count correctly, holding the book out for a second and then putting the book down without making it look like they still had it.

It helps that my actors are so excited to work on this show and excited to work with me. We spend a lot of time on community building between the three of us and we’ve really bonded. It’s great for the show because it will make the relationship between the character’s look all the more natural. But it is also a lovely thing in general. Theatre is always better when you feel like you’re part of a community, no matter how many people are working on the production and I really think we’ve built our own little community with my show and that’s something really special.

How the audience will receive your show?

I think a lot of people in this time have been struggling to find connection with people. It’s hard when you can’t see the people you love face-to-face. It’s hard to build relationships with people over a computer. But the lovely thing about my show is that you get to see a relationship between two people that transcends the literal distance between them. It’s staged so they look like they’re in the same place, but the audience knows they are on Zoom. So, I want people to watch this moment of real human connection and hear this story about love and the effort that we put into the people we care about. Hopefully, it will be very uplifting and positive for people to watch.