KWLT is now streaming improv podcast/web series
THE KITCHENER-WATERLOO LITTLE THEATRE (KWLT)
has partnered with the City of Waterloo to bring an improvised soap opera to the area through a podcast/web series ‘Around the Square,’ weekly throughout March.
Peter Aitchison, a board member of KWLT who took on the role of manager, is directing, producing and editing the series alongside his fellow team members and the eight actors on screen.
“I was playing around with ideas of what can we do, by ourselves in our homes together on the internet,” he said of the project’s origins.
KWLT was then reached out to be the City of Waterloo who was interested in reviving an outdoor improv series that was forced to shut down due to the pandemic.
“When the city came to us, in probably late November, early December, and said, ‘we used to do this soap opera in the Waterloo Town Square, and we weren’t able to so we were thinking of maybe doing a radio drama or something’ and asking for our help. I thought, ‘I think I can do one better. I’ve been playing around with this idea, and if we get people in Originally episodes their homes, set up with a were expected to run at camera and a green screen, three minutes per scene, we might be able to cut totalling some 30 minutes, something together that but have been cut down. works.’” Aitchison estimates his
And so Around the team (Monica Maika, the Square was born. executive producer and
The series centers on audio editor, assisting controlled chaos in realworld director Joe Gull and Paul environments. Budel tech team and original
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“Send us words. It doesn’t matter what it is, doesn’t matter where it comes from, just a word. Because we start every episode with a word that creates a theme, which we then use to inspire our characters in this little world we’ve created. We also have people sending us photos, and that’s a lot of fun. Take a picture of a place in Waterloo, and send it to EP@kwlt.org and we’ll try and put our actors in that space. So, if you think it might be funny, present us with something to work with – we’ll see what we can do.”
Now halfway through the production, the possibility of creating something similar in the future is a possibility.
“We’ve got new skills, we’ve got new equipment, the idea that we could, put up these green screens and cameras in our rehearsal space, and a have it there so that people could go in and play. Literally, just play and create content, and then share.”
KWLT is currently accepting donations online. All Around the Square can be listened to on any major podcast streaming services or watched on the Create Waterloo YouTube channel or on Instagram TV @createwaterloo.