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PlayMakers Repertory Company’s 45th season has been a season like no other. Amid a global pandemic, when other theaters were shutting down, the company programmed its first virtual season. With the theme “All Too Human,” artists have tapped into their creativity and resiliency to explore our shared humanity in these challenging times.
In March, PlayMakers debuted UNC playwright Jacqueline Lawton’s new play, Edges of Time, filmed in the Paul Green Theatre and shared online with audiences.
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hen COVID-19 forced PlayMakers Repertory Company to close its production of Julius Caesar shortly after opening night in March 2020, Producing Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch pledged a mantra of moving forward with “responsible optimism.” As many other theaters around the country have gone dark, PlayMakers, the professional theater-in-residence in the department of dramatic art, has kept its virtual — and in some instances, physical — doors open, serving audiences, students, staff, company members and faculty alike. In addition to an undergraduate major, the department offers three MFA programs in acting, costume production and technical production. Last August, PlayMakers announced that its 2020-2021 season, with a theme of "All Too Human," would be digital. Benesch has remained committed to developing new works and showcasing under-represented voices, while keeping safety as a vanguard. Six streamed performances have ranged from audio dramas to Zoom readings to solo performances filmed onstage. A previously recorded version of Kane Smego’s hip-hop odyssey
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Temples of Lung and Air opened the season, followed by beloved company member Ray Dooley’s “radio-style” performance of A Christmas Carol. The company staged an online reading of the Thomas Wolfe International Playwriting Competitionwinning play The Storyteller by Sara Jean Accuardi, followed by a performance of Mike Wiley’s searing one-man show Blood Done Sign
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My Name. The world premiere of department of dramatic art playwright Jacqueline Lawton’s Edges of Time, filmed in the Center for Dramatic Art on the UNC campus, highlighted the life of Black female journalist and activist Marvel Cooke. And a special Zoom performance of Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss and What I Wore featured company members alongside longtime friends of Benesch’s
