‘The Real Sappho’ goes virtual after all
Cutting Ball Theater planned an exciting return to live stage — but COVID struck
In late May, Cutting Ball Theater was hard at work putting together its latest play, “The Real Sappho.” A new work by Oakland playwright Aimee Suzara, the show would be the San Francisco company’s first in-person production since the COVID-19 pandemic forced live theater to a halt more than two years ago.
Cutting Ball, a small theater company in the Tenderloin, remains one of the last in the Bay Area yet to return to the physical stage. Theater leaders at the company were especially excited to make their in-person comeback during Pride Month with an innovative production driven by artists of color and queer perspectives.
“The Real Sappho” reimagines Archaic Greek poet Sappho — the queer icon, the “Tenth Muse,” “The Poetess” — as a woman of color living in fictional, modern “Oak-Island.” Suzara, who is Filipino American, depicts Sappho in a way that challenges previous representations of the poet and highlights facets of her identity that have seldom been explored, including Sappho as a lover, teacher and mother.
“Aimee is really confronting a lot of the past narratives we’ve been told about Sappho from white men,” said Estela Hernandez, spokesperson for Cutting Ball.
“Sappho,” which was set to hit the live stage June 9 for a run through July 10, wasn’t Cutting Ball’s first attempt to return to live theater. Another play, “Honestly, I’ve Never Wanted to Bash Someone in the Head with a Baseball Bat More Than I Do Right Now” by Juilliard playwriting fellow Morgan Gould, was originally slated for an in-person run in January.
When “Bash” was rescheduled for the fall after COVID cases surged due to the omicron variant, focus and high hopes were shifted onto “Sappho.”
“We were fully committed to going forward in person,” said Jess Koehn, the company’s general manager. Cutting Ball proceeded cautiously. “We had air purifiers, we had strict testing, we had masks, we cleaned everything constantly,” Hernandez said.
Still, COVID cases began to emerge among members of their team, and the company made the difficult decision to postpone opening night by two weeks.
Disappointed but undeterred, they moved forward. Then, a week before their revised opening, more cast and crew members were infected.
“It was to the point where we can’t even tech the show before opening,” patron services manager Sharisse Taylor explained of the process to rehearse music and lighting cues. “So the show literally cannot happen.”
With that, the company made a last-minute pivot to change “The Real Sappho” to a virtual reading. Hours of work put into the set and costume design were scrapped, and the anticipated monthlong run was reduced to just two nights.
COVID had delayed Cutting Ball’s return to live theater once again.
“It was heartbreaking,” Taylor said. The play had also resonated deeply with members of the team, making the virtual transition of “Sappho” all the more disheartening.
“I identify as a nonbinary lesbian, and having a show around the lesbian moniker really doesn’t happen,” said Koehn. “Even in the queer history circles, there tends to be a focus on the gay men, and the lesbian issue isn’t the same as the gay male issue.”
Suzara’s depiction of Sappho is immensely meaningful. Unapologetic and self-assured, Sappho, played by Jeunée Simon, is reintroduced to the world as a human being whom queer individuals, especially lesbians and people of color, can relate to today — an embodiment, a celebration, a validation of queer existences.
“You hear the name ‘Sappho’ and you’re automatically intrigued,” said Taylor. “When I told everybody about (the play), everyone was so excited because she’s an icon. It was going to be very queer- and woman-of-colordriven. We were putting voices out there that needed to be voiced.”
For Cutting Ball, the most upsetting impact of COVID is the inability to tell stories like these with the full potential of the artists’ collaboration. And yet, they’ve found a silver lining: The company is grateful they were still able to share Suzara’s play in some capacity.
“At least the story still gets to be told,” Hernandez said. “That’s what’s important.”
The company wanted to ensure that the work of their scenic, prop, lighting and costume designers would not go unacknowledged, either. A slide show of photos showing various design processes was presented before the start of the reading, giving audiences a glimpse of the artistry that could not be transferred to the virtual setting.
All the while, the company is managing to stay afloat, though the pandemic creates undeniable hardships for the small nonprofit. As season subscribers never got the opportunity to visit the theater in person this year, some are opting for refunds on their passes. Combined with lost ticket revenue as a result of moving “Sappho” online, Cutting Ball estimates it has lost $15,000.
But the company still holds out hope that it can return to live performances in the fall with “Bash,” and Cutting Ball remains dedicated to bringing theater to audiences, whether in person or online.
“We want to give audiences and artists — and ourselves — theater,” Hernandez said. “It’s been so hard to not be able to do what we do.”