By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
Lily (Emily Gates) and Max (Andrey Lull) share a moment of bonding in "Filming O'Keeffe."
Tucson's love for theater is stronger than its fear of COVID-19. The city will not desert its performing arts in this time of coronavirus.
Invisible Theatre had not even officially opened its production of “Filming O'Keeffe” under extreme COVID-conscious conditions when it announced all performances were already sold out and three more would be added.
Even though a capacity audience at IT is only 22 people with advanced social distance seating in effect, managing artistic director Susan Claassen wanted to make this humorous and philosophical play by Eric Lane as accessible as possible.
Completely different but occurring in the same time frame is Gaslight Music Hall's success in Oro Valley staging drive-in music concerts with audience members keeping their safe social distance by staying near their cars while the bands stay on an elevated outdoor stage with rock concert sound and lighting.
In both widely different events, audience safety is the determining factor. Tucson wants to play it safe, but this is also a city of artists – fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly.
At Invisible Theatre, even though everybody is indoors, it still feels safe. From start to finish, everyone who isn't actually on stage is wearing a mask. Even the mask-free actors, all four of them, always maintain their social distancing while acting.
“Filming O'Keeffe” was chosen last year to be the final production of IT's 2019-2020 season. Cast are Emily Gates and Andrey Lull as Lily and Max, high school students assigned to make a short film about the fabled couple Georgia O'Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz who once lived on the same property where Max lives today with his mom Melissa (Samantha Cormier) in Lake George, N.Y.
Setting all this up also includes some historical insight into O'Keeffe's paintings and Stieglitz's photography. The drama begins with the arrival of Max' estranged grandfather Martin (Joe L. Smith). His interest in Max has Melissa steaming which, in turn, sets Max on edge.
It has one romantic scene, others with anger and another one where two actors are passing around pieces of chocolate. As director, Nancy Davis Booth figured out some technques to get across the meaning of these moments that have physical contact even while the actors themselves did keep their social distance.
Certainly there are additional parts of the ususal IT play-going experience, the sharing and socialising, we have come to enjoy over IT's 49 years. Here's how today's process goes.
There is no more gathering in the lobby before the show. Ticket purchases are made on line in advance. Every ticket has a reserved seat. Seating is done f rom both the front and rear entrances so the lines don't bunch up.
On the phone each ticket holder is given a specific time to arrive. At that time you step up to the theater threshold. When the way is clear, you enter and are lead to your freshly cleaned seat where a copy of the playbill is waiting.
The restrooms are open and kept clean enough for brain surgery. Exiting the theater afterward is accomplished row by row in an orderly fashion.
The 75-minute “Filming O'Keeffe” has no intermission, but future plays that do will be handled similarly. True, the whole social side of theater-going is gone, but the play itself is still up there.
Of course some plays will be more adaptable than others to this process. Any two- or threee-hander with lots of long speeches or stream-of-consciousness dialogue would be good. “Love Letters,” a play where two people sit at desks the entire time, would be ideal.
Invisible Theatre's thoroughly detailed approach does sacrifice the casual fun of theaeter going, the big hugs and laughs, drinks during intermission, but at the performances I attended everyone was congenial and in good spirits.
They had the attitude this is only a temporary inconvenience, so we'll do it. We will hitch up our denims and go through whatever it takes because, after all, loving theater is what we do best.
"Filming O'Keefe” continues through July 5. The added shows are July 2-3 at 7:30 p.m., July 5 at 3 p.m., at Invisible Theatre, 1400 N. First Ave. All tickets are $35. For details and reservations, 520-882-9721, or visit www.invisibletheatre.com
