Can’t Stop. Won’t Stop.
How It Started
March 16, 2020
The third Monday of March was the date of our first virtual rehearsal. The Zoom meeting was filled with slight disappointment from having to cancel our big trip to El Paso, Texas for a new works festival but we were also excited. Many of us were still working regularly and even going out and hanging with family and friends. We sat down in front of our computers excited to just have another opportunity to create again.
We were bright eyed and excited for what seemed to be something we all thought would end in a few weeks; two months tops, continued on much longer than many of us ever thought. As the virtual meetings went from 1 to 10 to 20 and on, we saw this virtual life known as Quarantine or Life with “The Rona” started to become normal.
Picture of our first Zoom rehearsal.
How It Went
August 13, 2020
Before “outside” closed we were meeting twice a week in person and in the developmental stage of a new play that we would premiere at TheatreSquared’s Arkansas New Play Festival (ANPF) and other festivals and events.
During the time of development we all had life changing experiences from losing family members to dealing with the steady news of friends and family falling ill. Many of us still working either in the public or at home. LXTP rehearsals became our slice of normal in uncertain times.
As the days turned into weeks, it was clear live performance was no longer on the horizon, so we challenged ourselves with the task to bring the stage to our followers' screens. We had to think of how we would stay true to our live theatre roots but make our work accessible to our community in Northwest Arkansas and even further. This is when it was decided that we would record “Heroes and Monsters” (aka H&M) over the popular video conferencing platform, Zoom.
2020 was definitely a time of heroes and monsters (pun intended). As we became use to the virtual life we became excited every Tuesday and Thursday to see each other's faces. It was the time we got to escape our home, family, roommates, and reality to go to another world.
Cast Photo from Heroes and Monsters.
Heroes and Monsters was the show we didn’t know we needed in 2020. Before going virtual, it was decided that H&M would take place in a digital way and familiar way. Through a video game. With that in mind we began creating; a world, characters, rules, and a script. Using reality to help push the storyline. The idea of the antagonist being a virus was predetermined before the lockdown, and made even more sense now that there was an actual virus interrupting all of our lives. H&M slowly became real and thought provoking play. We used it to release our frustrations surrounding the pandemic and the protests that were now taking place around the country, and worked to craft it in a way that even someone who has never picked up a game controller will have a connection to this show.
August 13, 2020 was the date we released the teaser for ANPF. We hit a milestone and we adopted another name for how we appeared on Zoom, The Black and Brown Brady Bunch! Heroes and Monsters was soon released and then it was re-filmed and re-edited in the form of a four part series. We developed new ways to connect digitally with our followers through Freestyle Fridays, Corner Concerts, and Instagram takeovers so that those who follow us had the opportunity to connect.
Even though boxes can be seen as limiting, the boxes we were in expanded and brought us closer together. Most importantly, we learned that we are evolving artists and led us to drop a soundtrack of original music (link below)!
How It’s Going
March 16, 2021
Since the release of Heroes and Monsters, we have safely worked with other artists. We recently participated in the Artist response project with Nick Cave’s “Until” installation art exhibit. We were honored to have been selected and participated in such a moving piece.
2021 arrived and seemed to be a little better even with rioters and moments where it seemed like 2021 is trying to prove itself, we prevailed and have continued to create and hold workshops! As we exit the developmental stage and begin to create new characters, songs, poems, scenes and concepts, for a new production, we look forward to hopefully seeing each other again (in person) and having Foodie Calls (a time were we gather to eat after a performance or a rehearsal) and hopefully taking that long overdue road trip to Harold’s in Chicago, IL. Through those Zoom boxes, we have acted, sung, rapped, fought, laughed, cried, ate, and played EPIC rounds of Amoung Us (a digital game) but most of all have grown as a family. With vaccines becoming available to more and more each week we are hoping we will be back to in person rehearsals soon but until then, we will continue being the Black and Brown Brady Bunch!
It’s all smiles even in a pandemic!
This program was made possible in part by a grant from Arkansas Heritage, a division of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, funded by your 1/8 cent conservation tax, Amendment 75.