DEAR FRIENDS, In theatre, we have the tradition of the ghost light. The ghost light is a single, bare bulb that the stage crew turns on when the show’s over and everyone has gone home. The ghost light symbolizes our core belief that theatre should never go dark; the shadowy illumination glows in anticipation of actors and audience. A ghost light gives us hope. Hope is something we all need right now. At Syracuse Stage, hope has sustained us since the opening, and closing, night of Amadeus on March 13. Hope, tempered by the uncertainty of the times but buoyed by our unshakable faith in the future, inspires us to write to you now with an update on our plans for the coming months. Like you, there’s a lot we know, and a lot we don’t. We know for the foreseeable future, we can’t safely create the plays and musicals we planned to present this fall and winter. First, we don’t know when we can safely, or legally, reopen. Second, creating live theatre involves substantial lead time and the financial reality of not-forprofit theatre means we cannot produce musicals if we cannot sell at least 80% of the available seats in the Archbold Theatre. We know then, sadly, we cannot produce Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Matilda The Musical, and Once on this Island in the 2020-21 season. We hope to move these productions to the 2021-22 season. We also know it’s too soon to predict what might happen in March. For now, the second half of our current season remains intact. We’ll decide in January if we need to make any further adjustments. Please know, your safety, and the safety of our artists and staff, drives our decisions and informs all our plans.
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ROBERT HUPP AND JILL A. ANDERSON.
20 21
SO WHAT NOW? This pandemic pause affords us the opportunity to create something new and special for you. We’ve re-imagined what theatre can be; it’s not a substitute for the magic of the live experience, but a reimagining of what makes theatre special. It’s the opportunity to have experiences beyond the everyday, to wrestle with ideas that transcend the ordinary, to see our community in a new light, to share, even virtually, that rare moment when imagination takes flight as we explore our common humanity and purpose. Now, when we’re so isolated, let’s use technology to share experiences. Let’s not throw up
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our hands and say see you when this pandemic is over. Let’s use the core of our craft, our imagination, to do something now.
HERE’S THE EXCITING PART. Three intertwined components make a start on our re-imagined season. First, we’ll build a bubble to produce three virtual, fully-realized, mainstage productions starting with Lanford Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning romance, Talley’s Folly in November. For the holidays, we’ll partner with the Syracuse University Department of Drama to produce Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s delightful Jane Austen riff, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly. And in January, Steve H. Broadnax III (Thoughts of a Colored Man) returns to direct Anna Deavere Smith’s powerful and timely drama, Twilight: Los Angeles 1992. All will be available online for you to enjoy at home. Complementing the mainstage season and also delivered online is a new interactive series, Syracuse Stories. Here, we shine a light on stories, performances, and conversations that give us new insight into our lives in Central New York. October brings a partnership with the Auburn Public Theatre and the Harriet Tubman Troupe, to present A Gatherin’ Place, a powerful and affirming story written and performed by local Black women and directed by Dr. Juhanna Rogers. We’ll host and record insightful community conversations led by 100 Black Men of Syracuse and we’ll broadcast a reunion of the landmark Stage production, Tales from the Salt City. Finally, look for enhanced and expanded Cold Read experiences. Get in on the ground floor for new plays in development like The Head of Richard, an adaptation of Richard III by Syracuse Stage’s new artist in residence, actor, playwright and military veterans’ advocate Stephan Wolfert (Cry Havoc, Pride and Prejudice). Experience more new plays (like our recent online reading of Charles Martin’s new translation of Medea) and enjoy our new Cold Read SHORTs, available online and featuring a diverse selection of bold, relevant, and exciting new work. (Go to SyracuseStage.org for early installations by Kyle Bass and Carrie Mae Weems.)
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Every event you experience at Syracuse Stage in the coming months will be enlivened by subscriber exclusives such as talkbacks and behind the scenes offerings that aren’t possible in “normal” times. We’ll explore how each work unfolds, and you’ll meet the makers of our craft. We’ll create context for our stories, from poetry readings to scholarly lectures, all brought to you in the comfort (and safety) of your home. We invite you to join us on this new adventure. Starting with the Syracuse Story, A Gatherin’ Place, and moving through mainstage productions of Twilight, Our Town, and concluding in the spring with associate artistic director Kyle Bass’s salt/city/blues, you’ll see how these and all the many excursions on our season’s journey reveal a unifying purpose: to connect us to each other and to our life here in Central New York. It’s messy, its complex, it’s fun, it’s never boring. Honestly, we don’t know how this journey ends, and we know there will be bumps along the way, but together, we can turn this uncertain, isolating and scary time into a unifying time of hope and promise. That’s what theatre does best. And this is something we can all do together. Read on to see how you can join us on this journey . . . With warmest regards,
Robert Hupp Artistic Director
Jill A. Anderson Managing Director
We’ve kept busy with exciting projects and encourage you to visit www.syracusestage.org
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