For many artists and creatives, the pandemic has made finding an outlet to create art, share it with the world, and yet, feel artistically fulfilled, challenging to say the least. For myself and my peers, not only do we miss being in a rehearsal room sharing laughs and tears in the space together, learning from one another, creating memories, and leaving an impact on audiences- we have felt lonely and continue to crave an outlet for any collaborative opportunity. Despite theatre doors remaining closed until 2021, I have watched my fellow creatives use the pandemic to further ignite their passions. Whether it is feverishly writing behind a laptop from their bedroom, recording voice-overs in their closets, or even clearing a space in their living room to dance, we have learned to adapt and to find a way to still do what we love most, and “The Lonely 1 Acts Festival” has found a way to do it all.
Recent DeSales University graduate with a BA in Theatre (Stage Management) and Stage Manager of “The Lonely 1 Acts Festival,” Meaghan McKiernan, became the driving force behind the project.
She says,
“ I remember in my first year of undergrad we talked in a few classes about if theatre would ever truly die, and with that- if art could ever die. When the shutdown began in March, it really felt like theatre had died. Anyone that was doing virtual theatre knew it wasn’t really the same, and those that weren’t doing virtual theatre had no desire to do a ‘fake’ version of the thing they are most passionate about in life. We as people can’t let art, and at that, theatre die. To save it we need people like the wonderful company I’ve assembled for the Lonely 1 Acts Festival.”
So what exactly is, “The Lonely 1 Acts Festival”?
“The Lonely 1 Acts Festival" is a play festival composed of two 1 Act, original plays: FISH, written and directed by Matt Smaldone, and Spaceship Earth, written and directed by Sam Boelens. These plays were developed and polished in “Writer’s Quarantine”, a writer’s circle Matt formed back in March.
Matt Smaldone explains,
“I started the group, which now holds 6 writers including myself, as an attempt to continue the artistically creative efforts of my class despite the pandemic. We started with scenes, just critiquing each other for a few weeks, before starting our first project of a collection of 1 acts. This is where my play FISH and Sam's play Spaceship Earth, which are being produced as part of the Lonely 1 Acts, were completed. After our initial readings of these plays, we moved on to our next project: full length plays.”
Additionally, Sam Boelens shares his take on the process stating,
“It all started when you put a bunch of theater kids under quarantine, right after finding out they couldn't put on their senior capstone project. There were murmurings of getting involved with mobile theater projects, and those murmurings grew into talkings, and those talkings grew into shouts, and soon Matt Smaldone created several that I also became a part of- a zoom poetry club where people would read from poetry they liked or just poetry in general, and a playwriting workshop where we would write and read from original works of ours.”
As the plays in “Writer’s Quarantine” evolved, Meaghan, watching her peers immerse themselves in their own works, took full advantage of this opportunity.
Sam adds, “However, knowing that Matt and I were heavily involved with this writer's quarantine group, Meag McKiernan contacted us, telling us she missed stage management and theater in general. Her idea was essentially to do staged readings of our original works, working in collaboration with other artists, which we jumped at the chance to do.”
Meaghan agrees with Sam and expresses, “I have been missing theatre terribly over the past few months and I was noticing that actors, directors, and writers had a way of continuing their art virtually but stage managers or designers did not have that luxury. I approached Matt and Sam, proposing that we stage a few of their works virtually and after a few meetings it was all planned and in the works.”
Ok, so what? Isn’t this just another group of starving artists performing from their parent's basements?
Nope, not this time! You’re in for something unique.
Meaghan explains,
“Another reason I approached the directors about this project is because I had seen and been a part of so many virtual theatre productions that had some amazing work behind them, but it was all lost when it was translated through the screen. It was my personal goal to create theatre that wasn’t just actors in little webcam boxes with whatever objects they could find used as props. I wanted to give the audience, and the whole company, a taste of the theatre that they know and love. To do this involved a lot of meetings to talk about what needed to be different and how we could “makeover” virtual productions.
Meaghan continues,
“The directors are working with the actors to gear their intentions and actions to come across on the screen. On the design side of things, we have a lovely production designer, Kaia Merrell, who is designing lights, props, and sets that we will be sending to the actors to help immersify and tell the story. We are even commissioning visual artists for some graphics to tell the action of the story. Our sound designers are also working on stereo effects so that audience members wearing headphones feel like they are right in the action. Overall, it is going to be like nothing virtual theatre has done before.“
Moreover, “The Lonely 1 Acts” is determined to bridge the gap between the traditional staged theatre, and the new normal of virtual theatre that so many are trying to navigate.
We are raising funds for the technical elements of our festival that will help:
1. Give virtual theatre a much-deserved makeover
2. Help tell original stories in a new and innovative way
3. Reach new audience members and re-excite devoted theatre-goers
All donations will go directly into elements of the production that you will noticeably see and hear! Every little bit will help transform the state of virtual theatre as we know it.
***As an extra incentive, a portion of our total proceeds will be donated to the Actors Fund to help other artists continue their passion. ***
Your support for projects like this one is incredibly needed in a time where the death of theatre is at our heels. To keep theatre and the arts alive, we must keep creating and finding new ways to adapt. We hope to be back on the stage soon, but until then we rally for your support for a different kind of theatre.
The performance will be streaming one-night-only on Youtube and Facebook LIVE free to the public on Friday, September 18th starting at 7:00 PM EST.
Come back for PART 2 this week to read more about my role in “The Lonely 1 Acts” and to learn more about the creative minds behind the plays!
