I had intended to take a break from theater in 2020 to rest and restore after a few overly busy years attending school (2016-2019). Not many shows had a chance to get off the ground in 2020 before everything was canceled due to the COVID 19 coronavirus pandemic. Theaters were shut down, along with all other non-essential non-profits, businesses, and companies. Quarantine, social distancing, and masking were in effect. Though I had already intended to take a theater hiatus in 2020, there were no theater opportunities available due to the pandemic.
In 2021, most Beaver County theaters had still not opened their doors. This included the two theaters I work with most often: R-ACT Theatre Productions and The Bobcat Players. Iron Horse Theatre Company, who I haven’t yet had the opportunity to work with, returned to the stage in fall of 2021 with shows that had no roles for me. Pittsburgh New Works resumed in August and September of 2021. I considered auditioning, but decided to wait. This proved to be a wise decision for me as the fall ended up being an incredibly busy time for me and the remainder of 2021 was a considerably challenging time in my life.
Outside of theater, from April 2021-May 2022 I was enrolled in A Year-Long Enneagram Certification Program in Conscious Living (A Depth Approach to Life-Changing Inner Work Through the Enneagram for Enthusiasts & Experienced Practitioners) with Russ Hudson and Jessica Dibb hosted by The Shift Network. My engagement in that course along with my parenting duties and grieving the loss of my father, stepmother (12/2021), and future mother-in-law (03/2022) held me back from auditioning for the few theater opportunities that were available in late 2021 and early 2022.
In 2022, theater returned to Beaver County. The Bobcat Players performed their first post-pandemic in-theater show in March of 2022. Red Barn Players returned to the stage with their first post-COVID performance June of 2022. R-ACT performed their first show in their new space, Segriff Stage in Rochester, in July 2022.
My first personal reentry back into live theater post-pandemic was on April 08, 2022. I was asked to join the cast of “Our Stories” being produced by The Genesis Collective. Our Stories: A Play for Beaver County Voices is a reader’s theater dramatization based on real interviews of Beaver Countians engaged in social issues like food insecurity, homelessness, and human trafficking. It was low commitment with no memorization, only a handful of rehearsals via zoom, and two performances. There was a preview performance at the Art Madness Gallery and Exhibit on April 08 at the Beaver Train Station and a formal multi-media performance on August 20, 2022 at Lincoln Park BlackBox Theater.
Though I was not able to perform on stage during 2020, 2021, or most of 2022, I hope to be returning to the stage fall of 2022 or some time in 2023.
In January of 2020 I got to perform as Lila the Dancing Girl in the short silent film, The Shadow of the Sphinx. This was a companion piece to the R-ACT Spinnenweber murder mystery, Murder at the Movies, and was played on a screen during the stage performance at the Rochester Borough Theater in February 2020. Shortly after “Movies” wrapped, lockdown was enforced and R-ACT and all other local theaters canceled their seasons.
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