Walden and a Black coming-of-age musical
CT theaters staging outdoor shows with unusual locations, bold concepts
Several Connecticut theaters are leaving the confines of their indoor spaces, closed since March 2020, to execute ambitious plans in the summer months. TheaterWorks Hartford, Long Wharf and Elm Shakespeare Company are among those using public parks as distanced environments to stage bold, confrontational performances addressing current social issues.
These shows mark the long-awaited transition from virtual shows to live performances, with indoor shows likely delayed until fall for most Connecticut theaters.
From TheaterWorks building a full cabin on the waterfront for a new play about the environment to the Oddfellows Playhouse children’s theater staging a classic piece about the L.A. riots, these theaters could have opted for tamer fare as they return to live performances. But all expressed not just their own desire to tackle difficult subjects that have incited debate during the shutdown but how this is what their loyal returning audiences expect from them.
‘Twilight: Los Angeles 1992’ in a thrift store parking lot
’Twilight: Los Angeles 1992” by Anna Deavere Smith, presented by Oddfellows Playhouse, May 20-22, 28 & 29 at 6 p.m. in the rear parking lot of the Salvation Army, 515 Main St., Middletown. $8-$25. oddfellows.org.
“We were hungry to speak to the world again,” says Dic Wheeler, executive artistic director of the Oddfellows Playhouse youth theater in Middletown. The theater, especially its teen ensemble, has been doing social issue-based and politically charged theater for decades, whether with contemporary spins on Greek tragedies or Renaissance comedies or with new works.
“Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 was created by Anna Deavere Smith shortly after the L.A. riots that happened following the acquittal of officers who arrested and beat Rodney King. Deavere Smith conducted hundreds of interviews and originally performed all the dozens of characters in the show herself (including at the Long Wharf Theatre in New
Haven in 1996). Among those portrayed in the piece are Congresswoman Maxine Waters, then-L.A. police chief Daryl Gates, Charlton Heston and an unnamed juror in the Rodney King trial.
Wheeler, who’s directing the Oddfellows rendition of “Twilight,” has cast 15 kids in the production, each of whom plays one or two roles. He notes that “people of color outnumber white people, both in the cast and in the staff.” The show was scheduled to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.
“I was looking for an outdoor setting, so I poked around the North end of Main Street and thought “this is perfect. I sent a letter to the Salvation Army, thinking they would probably say no, but they were happy to do it.” The setting is ideal for a show about people taking to the streets. “Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 is being performed at 6 p.m., with natural lighting since sundown doesn’t come now until nearly 8 p.m.
Fifteen is a huge cast for any live show these days, but Wheeler says “because it’s mostly monologues, it’s totally appropri
ate for socially distanced theater.” Wheeler has added some ensemble elements and even a dance.
“It’s amazing to see the effect that this has had on the kids in the cast,” Wheeler says. “After being indoors for a year, they’re finding a new community where they can talk about things that important to them.”
‘Passing Strange’ in city parks
”Passing Strange,” Aug. 28 and 29 in the Fair Haven and Dwight/Edgewood neighborhoods of New Haven. (Exact locations to be announced.) Free. longwharf.org.
The Long Wharf Theatre hasn’t produced local touring shows since it ran its own children’s theater company decades ago. But, as the theater’s new Artistic Director Jacob Padrón likes to put it, “the great pause has become the great possibility.” For its first live show since it abruptly closed its doors in March of 2020, the Long Wharf is venturing into two New Haven neighborhoods with a fresh production of the African American coming-ofage rock musical “Passing Strange.”
“It’s no secret that we are really trying to build a real relationship with our communities,” Padrón says.
The show was created by the single-named writer/ performer Stew and his longtime collaborator Heidi Rodewald. Stew starred in the original production of the show, which became a Broadway hit and was filmed by Spike Lee.
Due to the personal nature of the material and a loose structure that lends itself to numerous interpretations, no two productions of “Passing Strange” are alike. The Long Wharf production will be directed by Cheyenne Barboza, whose title at the theater is “community partnerships & literary associate” but who also has a background in playwriting and directing.
“Passing Strange” marks a new Long Wharf initiative called “Play on My Block,” which furthers the theater’s new philosophy of inclusion and outreach by bringing shows directly to New Haven neighborhoods, with the input and support of residents in those communities.
She says the shows can be “really impactful. They start important conversations with ourselves and with out neighbors.”
The production, which will have just two performances, is being skillfully scaled down to seven performers and three additional musicians.
The show is being cast with local performers, and the neighborhoods where it will be performed even weighed in on the choice of “Passing
Strange,” which Padrón says Barboza is presenting as “a story of resilience.” Working with the City of New Haven Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism, the Long Wharf looked for “leaders who need arts programming in their communities, the areas with cool parks and open areas.” Padrón says. ““We wanted to make sure we were co-creating and co-curating with the community,” Padrón says. We didn’t want to helicopter in to these areas and say ‘You need this.’ ”
The Dixwell and Fair Haven neighborhoods will be hosting “Passing Strange” Aug. 28 and 29. A “teaser” of the show will also be performed on New Haven Green during the International Festival of Arts & Ideas.
‘Romeo & Juliet’ on New Haven Green
”Romeo & Juliet” and “R=J Rewind,” June 26 at 3 p.m. on New Haven Green as part of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. Free; reservations required. The show will also be livestreamed. artidea.org or elmshakespeare.org.
Elm Shakespeare Company, the largest outdoor Shakespeare theater in the state, has teamed with the Connecticut gun violence prevention nonprofit Ice the Beef to stage the romantic tragedy as a contemporary innercity drama, acted by local youth, with an emphasis on how angry confrontations spin out of control in the play. The production will be followed by a differently styled take on the same material: “R+J Rewind” features Theatre of the Oppressed performance techniques, a popular political theater style developed in Latin American in the mid-20th century.
“Our big fight right now is in how people perceive our company,” says Elm Shakespeare’s Producing Artistic Director Rebecca Goodheart. She says that two-thirds of the company’s youth ensembles are “children of color, and the Ice the Beef project is primarily BIPOC.
While Elm Shakespeare is best known for its annual Shakespeare productions in Edgerton Park on the New Haven/Hamden border, it is a year-round company that also holds classes and occasional indoor productions. The theater had to cancel its major Shakespeare productions in Edgerton for both 2020 and 2021. Besides “Romeo & Juliet” and “R+J Rewind,” it is holding a student theater festival of revised Shakespeare plays outdoors in August.
’Walden’ on the waterfront
”Walden” by Amy Berryman, presented by TheaterWorks Hartford July 23 through Aug. 22 at Riverfront
Recapture on the Hartford waterfront (exact park location to be announced later). Also available in a prerecorded streaming version Aug. 15-24. Ticket prices to be determined. twhartford.org.
TheaterWorks Hartford is partnering with Riverfront Recapture for the North American premiere of the new play “Walden” by Amy Berryman in July. The play will be performed outdoors in a newly developed section of the Riverfront Recapture complex, near the Windsor border.
TheaterWorks has been producing shows virtually throughout the pandemic, but this is the theater’s first outdoor production ever. It reflects a longheld yearning to do “site-specific” shows, says the theater’s producing artistic director Rob Ruggiero.
“Walden” is a new play, receiving its world premiere in London, England, this month. “Our artistic team all fell in love with it,” Ruggiero says.
“We were planning to get a house and film the show in it” for a virtual streaming production, the director explains, but as COVID restrictions were lifted, the prospect of doing “Walden” outdoors became more attractive.
“Walden” takes place in the “not so distant future,” Ruggiero says, and concerns a NASA botanist named Cassie who has returned to Earth from a year of working on the moon. Another character in the play is a climate activist.
It’s set in “a remote cabin in the woods,” and TheaterWorks is planning to build a complete cabin on Riverfront Recapture land.
There will be four weeks of live performances of “Walden.” Attendance at each performance will be limited to 50. Each audience member will be given their own headset for a private “audio experience” as part of the show. The show will also be filmed for streaming.
The play will be directed by Mei Ann Teo, described in a TheaterWorks press release as “a queer immigrant from Singapore making theatre and film at the intersection of artistic/ civic/contemplative practice.” Ruggiero says that “almost the entire creative team” for “Walden” are Asian theater artists.
In a statement released with the “Walden” announcement, Riverfront Recapture President & CEO Mike Zaleski said “We’ve always wanted to bring a TheaterWorks production to the riverfront, and we’re thrilled that they’re staging this innovative and interactive performance at our new property.”
This story has been updated to reflect a change in dates for the Long Wharf Theater performances of “Passing Strange.”