Yesterday I went through all of my collection of plays to find ones that would be conducive for up to five people. In case anyone wants to have an online reading with me. I will list them here in case. I also wanted to point out the different things happening around the world that have been created by people.
Yes, and…
One of our alumni, Lauren Flaherty teaches a storytelling and acting class in California and used Facebook to create stories using “Yes, and…” with people commenting to continue the story. Since then others have borrowed the idea and have created wonderful stories together through Facebook.
Musical Genius
Another actress in our community, Avital Sykora, started a thread on Facebook of topical musical theater parodies and it has been a hit!
Sing-along
In Italy and around the world people are singing from their balconies.
Going virtual
I plan to do an online acting class this evening. It’s all experimental but hoping it will go well. Theater very much needs connection but I hope to bring in theater games and ideas that can involve that connection through conference call.
5 person plays
So here are the plays that I went through. I’ve read through most of them at some point or other. I do have a bunch more that require more than 4 people for a reading, including Shakespeare of course. There’s a few monologue books as well that I am not listing here that would be great to work on while at home. Most of these are contemporary and dramatic. I wonder if any involve a virus.
I also just got Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen. I’ve delved into her exercises and have been meaning to get this book for awhile. So there is some of my reading for the next week or so, or as the foreword by David Hyde Pierce says, a lifetime. Just reading the first chapter I find that our theater community is very lucky to be able to do what we do.
Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf by Edward Albee Proof by David Auburn, Carol Mulroney by Stephen Belber, 9 Circles by Bill Cain, Freud’s Last Session by Mark St. Germain, Orphans by Lyle Kessler, This is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan, American Buffalo by David Mamet, Oleanna by David Mamet, Dinner with Friends by Donald Margulies, Pitching to the Star and other short plays by Donald Margulies, Jack and Jill by Jane Martin, Encounters by Leonard Melfi, K2 by Patrick Meyers, The Four of Us by Itamar Moses, Pieces of the Sky by David L. Paterson, Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter, A Slight Ache by Harold Pinter, Paradise by Yasmine Beverly Rana, God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, Doubt by John Patrick Shanley, Italian American Reconciliation by John Patrick Shanley, Welcome to the Moon and other plays by John Patrick Shanley, True West by Sam Shepard, Pterodactyls by Nicky Silver, and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
If any of these plays are of interest to you to do a reading let me know. I can send you a digital copy somehow, or maybe you own a copy too. If you’d like to share what you are doing during these times let us know and we’d gladly share it on our page. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Mutual support
And in order for our community to continue what it does when this is all over and people start going back to the physical theater space we launched a donations page that links to all the English speaking theater companies in Jerusalem. There are lots of institutions and individuals that need our help to get through this – it’s a long list, and we’re by no means putting ourselves anywhere near the top
We are in this together.
Do you have another idea? Want to write some of your own ideas here? Get in touch with jerusalemenglishtheater@gmail.com.