Sunset, ants, stray cats: All the world now a stage
Cole NeSmith talks with OUC officials about light levels in a public plaza. Katrina Anne Soricelli studies portable radio transmitters. Lindsay Taylor consults the Farmers’ Almanac about December sunsets. Mallory Vance stocks up on bug repellent.
None of these activities would make a usual preshow checklist, but as COVID-19 pushes the arts outdoors, the creativity of Central Florida’s theater makers expands in new directions.
“Who knew 2020 would be the year of outdoor theatre?” wrote producer-director Jeremy Seghers on Facebook. He staged an outdoor production of “The Bacchae,” a Greek tragedy in August.
“It’s a different kind of freedom,” said Vance, adding that working so publicly gets increased attention for her Phoenix Tears Productions. Of course, that attention is not always welcome.
“A lot of people, especially late-night joggers, will stop and ask, ‘What are you guys doing?’” said Vance, who is rehearsing the show “Infected.” During performances, someone will be
specifically designated for guiding curious onlookers away so the show isn’t interrupted.
NeSmith will in essence have multiple shows running simultaneously at 10 locations around downtown in October. His production of “Bright Young Things,” by Orlando playwright-director Donald Rupe, has multiple story lines and scenes to make it a different experience each time.
NeSmith’s experience in producing the annual Immerse festival means he has connections with Orlando city officials and business owners that make turning downtown into a theater easier.
“When we say, ‘ Hey we have this crazy idea…,’ they expect that from us now,” NeSmith said.
For “Bright Young Things,” his team had to communicate with eight different building owners in order to install technical equipment on their property for the show, a romantic adventure in which the audience follows the actors from location to location.
“It’s a lot of asking for permission,” NeSmith said.
In Ocoee, Vance discovered she needed a city permit “like you would get for a parade” to lead her audience along streets, through an alley and into a field. In “Infected,” the audience is trying to escape a city riddled with plague. An audio-immersive show, “Infected” uses headphones to provide thrills, along with the actors and some light effects.
The lighting elements though, are deliberately kept low-tech, an approach also taken by Orlando Fringe. It will present “A Fringemas Carol” — a retelling of Charles Dickens’ tale of miserly Scrooge, ghosts and Tiny Tim — this December in Loch Haven Park.
Theatergoers will walk through the park, stopping to view scenes from the perennial favorite, each performed by a different cultural troupes, such as VarieTease and Beth Marshall Presents.
“It gives audiences a great taste of the different arts groups in Central Florida,” said Lindsay Taylor, who is co-directing the show with Kenny Howard. True to the nature of the Fringe, which presents more than 100 low-budget shows in its annual festival, “Fringemas Carol” will rely on the park’s post-sunset lighting and the actors’ ability to project.
“We don’t want to mess with all that technology,” Howard said.
Even trying to keep things simple can prove tricky.
Soricelli thought that’s what she was doing for Engram Dance Company’s “The Unraveling,” an outdoor modern-dance program in which the audience drives to four locations to watch the story unfold, using natural lighting.
“I think it adds to the guerrilla aspect of it,” she said of her approach, which uses striking-looking buildings as her “sets.”
But to bring the music from place to place — and provide tunes to keep the mood going during the drives — she had to learn about radio transmitters.
“The technology of this was way more than I antic
ipated,” she said.
Sometimes Mother Nature provides her own sound and lights.
In one performance of Seghers’ show, a sudden deluge added unexpected, and impossible to replicate, drama.
“My cast performed in a rainstorm tonight that was almost cinematic,” Seghers posted on social media after the eventful night. “I can’t even believe it happened, but it made it all the more intense and otherworldly and so far beyond what I could have imagined as a director. It was epic.”
Added actor Sarah Lee Dobbs: “It was exhilarating beyond words.”
But in Seghers’ drive-in show, the audience was sheltered in their cars. Theatergoers exposed to the elements might not be as enthusiastic.
Vance already has stocked up on dollar-store umbrellas to hand out, if needed. All of the shows have thunderstorm contingency plans.
Florida’s wildlife adds another challenge. Vance scouts for anthills to make sure the audience won’t be infested during “Infected.” And rehearsals have been interrupted by stray cats.
“It’s wildly different than an indoor space,” she said.
There are advantages to using the world as your stage: Vance’s permits cost a few hundred dollars, far less than renting a traditional theater. Of course, it’s harder to keep gatecrashers out.
Soricelli deliberately doesn’t reveal the address of her show until a ticket has been purchased — and then the audience learns where next to drive after each scene.
And for creative people, the scope of the great outdoors can prove intoxicating. At first, the Fringe team thought its Christmas show might cover a distance of two miles over hill and dale.
“You would have needed hiking boots,” said Taylor, laughing.
Eventually, to make the show more welcoming to families and people of all abilities they decided to stick to the Loch Haven Park sidewalk as a walking route.
“We wanted to make sure it was enjoyable and accessible to all,” said Taylor of “A Fringemas Carol,” which also will feature American Sign Language interpretation at some performances. .
After all, an important purpose of outdoor theater these days is to give audiences a break from online shows.
“It really stemmed from us canceling so many things,” said Howard of the Fringe.
“We tried to think of something so we could, as an organization, really see people again.”