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Forge Theater Lab playwrights explore the pandemic in ‘No Place to Go’

Richard Duckett

Worcester Telegram & Gazette | USA TODAY NETWORK

They could be called some of the first dramatic dispatches from our current times.

The Forge Theater Lab will present “No Place to Go: Stories From a Pandemic,” a staged reading of 10 short plays, scenes and original monologues by area playwrights at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 and 26 at Fitchburg State University.

For playwrights looking to capture what this moment is like, with all its attendant issues, “now is the time to do that” while we’re still living in the pandemic, said Charlene Kennedy, managing director of the Forge Theater Lab who is also directing “No Place to Go.”

“In a few years our perspective is going to change,” she said.

The Forge Theater Lab, which is in its fourth season in residence at Fitchburg State University, seems like an appropriate place for “No Place to Go.” According to its web site, the Forge “develops new plays that ignite passionate conversations.”

With “No Place to Go,” a time like no other brings about moments like no other.

“The pieces run the gamut of life,” said Kennedy, spanning multiple generations, relationships and voices.

While Forge Theater Lab is in residence at FSU it doesn’t just work with university students and alum, Kennedy said. For “No Place to Go,” Forge put out a request for submissions from writers within a workable radius of Fitchburg. The idea was that writers within that radius could come to Forge Theater Lab and participate in the rehearsal and staged reading process if they wanted to. Forge Theater Lab also didn’t want people selecting the works to be overwhelmed by pieces sent nationwide. As it was, over 40 works were submitted, Kennedy said. “A respectable response.”

The pieces include “Unrest” by Chamari WhiteMink of Bloomfield, Connecticut; “I Did Not Behave Well” by Norma Jenckes of Pawtucket, Rhode Island; “Love In The Time Of Covid” by Jamie Steinbach of Boston; “For Real” by Ellen Davis Sullivan of Andover; “Marty” by K. Alexa Mavromatis of Rumford, Rhode Island; “Kindness of Bakers,” by Monica Staaf of Foxboro; “Movie Reel” by Jack Rushton of Newbury; “A Dramatic Reading of Angry Emails from Entitled Patrons” by K. A. O’Connor of Ayer; “Queerantined” by Jessica Stier of Short Hills, New Jersey; and “Drinking Our Way Through the Pandemic” by Pamela Kathleen Hill of Ashby (Hill will also be appearing in the staged reading).

Some are short plays that run for about 10 to 15 minutes, others are scenes and monologues that might be run for just five minutes or less. In total, the program runs about 90 minutes, Kennedy said.

“No Place to Go” has tragedy and humor. “I suppose the tragedy is the pandemic itself,” Kennedy said. “They are humorous at times. There is an element of tragedy. There is fear, confusion — going to a grocery store and a fear of shortage of materials. There’s wearing a mask.”

One work focuses on a Black man in the pandemic, while another has older characters “that look at life from their perspective and loss,” Kennedy said. “There’s a piece about what do you do if you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community and you’ve just started to come out and you now can’t because you’re still living at home and haven’t taken that step (there).” Another piece focuses on nurses living in a hotel room and not allowed contact with their families, Kennedy said.

“They’re not all heavy. We always as people find humor even in the darkest moments,” Kennedy said.

Regarding whether there is any sort of common denominator in “No Place to Go,” Kennedy said, “Hopefully it moves us so there’s a cathartic response to these pieces. Maybe a recognition in that, ‘I’m not alone in this situation.’ Also that there is hope for our tomorrow. That we can emerge from this period and will emerge.”

Best of all, “I think through all 10 pieces it examines humanity and how we respond to crises. I do feel and believe that there’s an overall optimistic quality,” Kennedy said.

A staged reading takes place without props or costumes, but there is a cast — scripts in hand — who have been working on performing the pieces.

The cast includes Michael Babineau, Amber Char-

K. Alexa Mavromatis is the author of “Marty.”

SUBMITTED PHOTOS Pamela Kathleen Hill wrote and is acting in “Drinking Our Way Through the Pandemic.”

Disco Biscuits SUBMITTED

The Disco Biscuits return to Massachusetts for show at Palladium

Robert Duguay

Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

Very few bands have a dedicated following like The Disco Biscuits from Philadelphia. Chances are that you know someone who has traveled to another city or town to see guitarist and vocalist Jon Gutwillig, bassist and vocalist Marc Brownstein, keyboardist and vocalist Aron Magner and drummer Allen Aucoin perform. If you think you don’t, start playing one of the band’s records the next time you’re at a party and at least one person will be ecstatic with joy.

When you interact with this peculiar community of fans, it makes complete sense that the Disco Biscuits have thrown their own music festival called Camp Bisco to cater to these folks. At The Palladium on 261 Main Street in Worcester on March 3, people will be gathering to see this electronic leaning jam band take the stage.

The last time The Disco Biscuits came to Massachusetts it was during the fall of 2020 when they played four nights in a row from October 16-19 at the Yarmouth Drive-In on Cape Cod. Numerous groups of three to four people were isolated in separate spots all over the drive-in grounds where their cars were parked while dancing and enjoying themselves. The feeling was mutual as the band enjoyed the experience after being skeptical at first.

“People were kind of toying around with the concept of do-

Spirit of radio lives on in community, internet stations

Victor D. Infante

Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

I have to confess, I don’t much listen to music on the radio anymore, which might seem odd for someone who most professionally identifies as a music journalist, but there you are. I have a short commute to work, wherein I usually listen to NPR or a local community radio channel, and if I have a longer drive ahead of me, it’s usually a podcast. At work, my ears are usually occupied by whatever song or album I’m currently writing about, and at home, I mostly crave the familiarity of my own playlists and music collection.

Still, when publicist Michael Marotta gave me a heads up about the independently owned radio station Oh, Hello Boston, which Marotta says is the only station “solely dedicated to spinning nothing but bands and artists from the region,” I have to admit, I was intrigued.

The regional aspect caught my attention, and naturally I asked if it played any artists with Worcester ties. They have, including Old Man Hansen, Joe Rockhead, The Curtain Society, The Curtis Mayflower, STEMS, The Marshall Pass, usLights, Sam Femino, Michael Kane & The Morning Afters and The New Colors.

Having DJ’d a show briefly for Unity Radio, I have a passing familiarity with how radio works, and also how difficult it is to find local music on the radio dial. When I would play Jafet Muzic, Abbie Cotto, Louie Gonz or other Worcester artists, I would get positive feedback. That said, Unity Radio has a relatively small reach. The city’s biggest stations — the Cumulus Media-owned Nash Icon 98.9 FM (WORC FM), which plays country music; 100 FM The Pike (WWFX), which plays classic rock, and 104.5 FM XLO (WXLO), which plays what it calls “Hot AC,” which is adult contemporary — doesn’t play local music often, because, as a rule, they only play music that has charted.

Bob Goodell, the Regional Vice President & Market Manager for Cumulus, says the only local artist they’re playing right now is “Voice” star Ricky Duran. “I don’t think any other local act that has original music has sent us any music to play in the past 18 months,” says Goodell, who also hints that they may be developing a show that could include more local music.

No, if you want to hear Worcester artists on the radio you have to go lower down the dial, or turn toward the internet, with “stations” and shows such as “Oh, Hello Boston,” “Boston Emissions,” “Wormtown Underground Radio Network” or “BumbleBee Radio,” each of which has its own set of priorities, and all of which except WURN are more Boston-based. Still, Worcester artists definitely have a presence on these programs.

“Off the top of my head,” says BumbleBee Radio owner, programmer and host Kristen Eck, “Worcester (connected) artists I play include J Prozac, Evil Felipe, Lielack, Sapling, Michael Kane & The Morning Afters and from just outside the city in Marlboro Circus Trees and Pillbook PLBK. Those are the ones I can remember quickly. I’m sure there

Charles Safford (Chuck Chillin’) is a DJ on WCUW. CHRISTINE PETERSON PHOTOS/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Ernest C. Floyd is the executive producer of Unity Radio.

STEVE LANAVA/TELEGRAPH & GAZETTE

Radio

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are more.”

But putting aside college radio such as WCHC, ERS and WUMB — college radio always has an anarchic streak — the place to hear Worcester artists is on local, community radio stations, such as WCUW, WICNand the aforementioned Unity Radio. Touching base with a few local DJs, it’s clear that these stations are still far more accessible to local artists than commercial or out-oftown radio. Chuck Chillin’ — the voice of WCUW deep into the night Saturdays on WCUW with “Smooth Grooves & Classic R&B” — has been playing local artists for years, including Sunta Africa, Geli, Jessie Hayes, Tyson Mays, Jongi and Amerika. Steve Blake, who hosts WCUW’s “The Drive” Mondays, has played numerous local artists, and noted plans to play the Curtis Mayflower on next week’s show.

Over on WICN, “The Folk Revival” host Nick Noble notes that he’s played many local artists on his Thursday show, including P.E. James, Kim Jennings, Kevin Kvein, Jon Short, Don Prange, Mark Mandeville & Raianne Richards, Ari Charbonneau, the late Sandy Haddon, Grade A Fancy, the Hip Swayers, Lori Diamond & Fred Abatelli, My Silent Bravery, James Keyes, Cara Brindisi, The Promise is Hope and jazz crooner Dale LePage, of whom Noble says, “I convinced him to perform a folk song!”

The upshot of all of this is that, while commercial radio still has the reach and audience — and that’s fine for what it is — it’s fundamentally irrelevant to local music. If you want that, then community radio and internet radio are definitely the places to tune in, and clearly, there are more choices than might seem apparent at first glance.

Nick Noble hosts “The Folk Revival” on WICN. NICK NOBLE

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Disco

Continued from Page 5

ing shows specifically at driveins during the summertime where you couldn’t even get out of your (expletive) car,” Magner says about how performing in drive-ins became a thing during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Then it gradually evolved into these roped off areas where you would be with just a couple other people from your immediate household or whatever it was in these so-called pods. You could pull your car up and either choose to stay in your car or get out of your car, but you have to stay in your sixby-six area. When we were trying to figure out what to do for months after we canceled all of our concerts, there were other bands that were exploring the concept of drive-ins and our first reaction was that drive-ins are stupid. Then we realized as the months progressed that it didn’t look like this pandemic was letting up anytime soon.

“If we wanted to go play some music and have some fun with each other while giving our fans a little bit of relief, even though it was going to be a different type of setting that nobody was used to yet, we figured, OK, maybe drive-ins aren’t stupid and it’s our only choice so fine lets do it,” he said.

“Then we got to the Yarmouth Drive-In and by the end of the first night we were all like ‘Drive-ins are the best!’ It was really a cool experience. Mind you, we didn’t know when the next concerts we were able to go play were, we ended up having a whole mini drive-in tour in October of 2020 because that was all we really had available to us. We made the most of it, especially that venue in Yarmouth, it was special and it was beautiful. We brought our community back together again, people finally left their homes to come out to an open air and safe place to hear some music.”

The shows were part of Magner’s first time being in Cape Cod and he completely fell in love with the area.

“I live outside of Philadelphia so the closest shore I go to is the Jersey Shore because it’s the easiest to get to,” he says. “Since those shows, my family and I actually vacationed in Cape Cod last year and we’re repeating it again this year. There was something about the environment there that particularly resonated with me and I love it up there so it has a special place in my heart.”

A couple of weeks ago, the band announced on social media that during the first Friday of each month going forward they will be posting updates called “Catch Up With The Disco Biscuits” so fans can keep up on what’s going on with announcements, developments, projects and other things.

Their day-to-day manager Drew Granchelli came up with the idea and they like how it furthers the connection they have with their fans on a different level.

“I think as a band, as a culture and as a community, something we realized at the very early stage of our careers, which was also borrowed from The Grateful Dead and Phish as well, is that there is a very solid relationship between the band and their fans,” Magner says. “Sometimes it’s almost a very gray area of who are the fans and who are the friends but we’re a community regardless of how close the relationship is. Each fan should be treated like there’s a one-on-one relationship with them where it’s not a band behind an iron curtain or behind a Wizard Of Oz type of thing so when we go up on stage nobody knows anything about us. With that being said, here’s something really cool and mysterious about the bands that do that. It’s part of the reason why the phrase “rock gods” exists because the fans’ curiosity is never going to be satiated and they’re just this deity on stage.”

“For us, we’ve always wanted to have a relationship with our fans and Marc [Brownstein] definitely exemplifies this and he wears a lot of things on his sleeve,” he adds. “He communicates regularly through Twitter and he responds regularly to fans, even on the one-to-one. When the idea came up of keeping everybody updated, there’s only so much you can do on social media. We could recap some shows we had played in previous months and previous years because everybody does that. We could put up some memes which are funny every now and again but I frankly think that they’re stupid.”

Magner does recognize how memes can grow a virtual audience, but he’d rather have something more engaging. Something more authentic that’ll still grab a fan’s attention while also being personable.

“Does it engage? Of course it does. Should it be used every now and again? That’s my personal opinion,” he says. “I don’t think I want to turn our page into a meme page just because it gets some traction, so what are you left with? You can put up content and little videos where myself or someone else in the band is working on a new song in the studio. The concept is just to keep everybody engaged regardless of what you post on social media whether it’s a meme, a clip of a show or something that we’re currently working on, a cool piece of art or a teaser of what’s about to come. It’s all about engagement and I was psyched about it since I wasn’t previously aware, it’s a really cool way to engage the fans.”

On the debut post of “Catch Up With The Disco Biscuits,” Gutwillig mentioned that the band has wrapped up three new songs that’ll be released this spring. Magner says that one of those songs will be out very soon.

“We’re actually going to be releasing our first single out of one of those three songs on the day after we come to The Palladium in Worcester on March 4th,” he says. “Be on the lookout for that.”

Forge

Continued from Page 4

est, Johannes Crueger-Cain, Madaline Falcone, Sophie Geremia, Lex Guertin, Daniel T. Hankins, Larry Hill, Pamela Kathleen Hill, Aaron Lehner, Leeann Monat, Angela Renzi, Susan Sanders, Robin Shaye, Kelly Stowell, Nina Turouski, and Eliana Wes. Many of the actors are Fitchburg State University alumni or current students.

“These are works in progress but are rehearsed and developed by myself and the performers in each piece,” Kennedy said.

The pieces include material that could be shaped into a longer play, while some monologues could stand alone as a statement.

“That’s really the playwright’s choice. One of the things the Forge provides is an initial basis where the playwright sees their written work (on the stage),” Kennedy said.

The Forge Theater Lab was founded in 2018 and has served as a the beginning step for a number of new plays.

Kennedy became managing director for the 2021-22 season. She’s a retired theater professor who taught at North Essex Community College in Haverhill. She’s also had a good deal of experience with college play festivals, and got to know Fitchburg State University from its participation in them.

After retiring, Kennedy moved fairly close to Fitchburg just across the border in Southern New Hampshire and agreed to become Forge Theater Lab’s managing director for this season.

Her first production with Forge was overseeing “Pride Pieces: Readings to Celebrate LGBTQ+ Month” put on in-person at FSU in October.

“That was a very stormy night. I had fears we were going to lose people but it was actually well attended. So I’m hoping this (’No Place to Go’) will be a similar response,” Kennedy said.

She sees her tenure as managing director of Forge Theater Lab as being “interim.”

“I’ve been involved in educational theater throughout my entire professional career. When I agreed (to Forge Theater Lab) on a one-year basis, in my opinion the position should be held by someone beginning a career. This is an interim step. Someone will hopefully come forward and take the reins for the future,” Kennedy said.

The “No Place to Go” staged reading will take place at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 and 26 at Kent Recital Hall in the Conlon Fine Arts building at Fitchburg State University, 367 North Street, Fitchburg. Admission is free but donations of any amount are sincerely appreciated and go toward allowing The Forge to continue to develop plays.To limit the spread of illness, if you are experiencing COVID symptoms or have been in close contact with someone with a case of COVID in the past three days, or have tested positive yourself in the past 14 days, please stay home. All visitors to campus will be required to sign a contact tracing form at the door. To learn more about The Forge Theater Lab, visit www.theforge.ink.