Theaters take different routes to viability as shutdown continues
To open virtually or not at all? To livestream or to Zoom?
South Bay theater companies are still weighing their options as the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown continues, albeit with a bit more leniency than a few months ago. Most have decided to offer some creative content, if only to keep their subscribers and the general public aware they’re still around.
The Hammer Theatre Center in downtown San Jose recently announced reopening plans. According to executive director Chris Burrill, the 528seat theater has installed a high- definition, multicamera equipment system, which means the theater can offer arts organizations a venue for livestreaming of dance, music and theater performances, as well as lectures and other events.
The Hammer raised the money for the new equipment through a crowdfunding campaign that brought in $30,000.
“With this new equipment and our trained camera crews, we’ll be able to accommodate scenery and add other top-production touches,” Burrill says.
For more information, visit www.hammertheatre. com or call 408-924-8502.
A f t er making plans to open on a limited basis, Los Altos Stage Company Ar tistic Direc tor Gary Landis announced on Sept. 14 that the company was told that doing so would violate both county and state public health orders.
The company is continuing with virtual classes for youth and adults as well as educational programming. Landis is aiming for a fiveplay season beginning in 2021.
Having had success with its live-filmed production of “Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue” in August, Mountain View’s Pear Theatre is planning a more ambitious eightperson production of “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes beginning Oct. 16.
Under the direction of Betsy Kruse Craig, former artistic director at the Pear, Carolyn Balducci’s adaptation of the Greek comedy will add to the play’s original theme of women going on a “sex strike” as a means of convincing their men to stop fighting and end wars. Pear’s production also expects to “explore the breadth of what gender means today,” according to Balducci.
Kruse Craig says that the majority of rehearsals will be held digitally until the final week, when “we’ll all meet outdoors—in true Greek tradition—to rehearse together before the live filming.”
Tickets are $30-$37 at www.thepear.org or 650254-1148.
“The Creature,” a play by Trevor Allen, was originally scheduled to be produced on the Dragon Theater stage in Redwood City this month. Instead, the playwright has given Dragon permission to cut up the script and produce it as both a podcast and an animated visual poem. The first podcast is scheduled for Oct. 22, while the first installment of the animated poem will be released in early 2021.