Durango PlayFest, the weeklong festival that brings new plays to town every August, is lending its support to community members who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic with a special one-night-only online event Sunday.
PlayFest will stream the play, “Sitting and Talking,” written by playwright Lia Romeo of Boulder and directed by James Glossman. The play stars longtime PlayFest supporters (and two of the festival’s original founders) Dan Lauria (“The Wonder Years,” “Lombardi”) and Wendie Malick, (“Just Shoot Me,” “Hot in Cleveland”).
Immediately after the performance, there will be a live question-and-answer discussion with Romeo, Glossman, Lauria, Malick and Artistic Director Chris O’Connor. The discussion will be moderated by Terry Bacon.
The 55-minute play is free to stream, but PlayFest asks that if able, patrons make a donation when they register for the show. Donations will benefit the Community Emergency Relief Fund – CERF – administered by the Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado.
“Sitting and Talking” is the story of couple in their 60s who are trying to navigate their way through the sometimes-awkward and weird world of online dating during the pandemic.
“I wrote it in May of last year. It was one of the first things that I wrote after the lockdown,” Romeo said. “It was basically just all the things I was thinking and feeling at that time. It basically came out of my grief and anger at (how) the pandemic was being handled, and all of that I just feel even more so now almost a year into this.”
Felicia Lansbury Meyer, PlayFest’s artistic director, said Lauria and Malick suggested the play to the festival, and she and the board loved it.
“It’s a timely topic, given the pandemic still with us after a year, so we started brainstorming ways to make the play available to a wider audience,” she said. “We’ve been streaming virtual content with our Actors’ Journal series. I guess virtual content is the only vehicle we have right now, and we’re trying to cultivate an audience for that and it’s just a way to keep what’s meant to be a live festival alive during the pandemic.
She said the festival went the direction of a free streaming event with a suggested donation for a reason.
“We decided that we did not want to use the play as a fundraiser for PlayFest – the pandemic is impacting so many individuals and small businesses and nonprofits in our region,” she said. “We’re asking those who can donate to do so to the Community Emergency Relief Fund, facilitated by the Community Foundation.”
And for Romeo, the importance of this event – and keeping theater alive even if only online for now – can’t be overstated.
“I think it’s important for theater to still be happening. And I think that this is the way it can be happening safely right now. Artists have been hit so hard by all of this – everyone in my industry has been out of work for a year, which is crazy,” she said. “And the fact that some of us can still make theater though this medium I think is really important, and the fact that audiences can still see theater through this medium, and we can all do all the things that theater does, which is to speak and respond to our particular moment and make people understand other people and all of those things theater does so well. I think those things can still happen over a screen; I don’t think they happen as well, but I think they can still happen, and as someone who dedicates my life to this, that’s very important to me.”
katie@durangoherald.com
To watch
What:
Durango PlayFest will stream an original play called “Sitting and Talking,” by Lia Romeo of Boulder.
When:
7 p.m. Sunday, followed by a live Q&A with the actors, playwright and director, artistic director and moderator.
Tickets:
The one-time event is free, but donations to the Community Emergency Relief Fund administered by the Community Foundation serving Southwest Colorado are encouraged. Register now for the play and Q&A: https://cutt.ly/sittingtalkingplay.
More information:
Visit
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Note:
To donate any time, visit
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