SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – A Syracuse theater company cancelled three shows from this season because of COVID-19. One show that got canceled, the annual holiday musical, normally sells half of the company’s tickets for the season. However, Syracuse Stage has been able to stay afloat without live performances and other challenges brought on by the pandemic.
Due to these expected financial losses, Syracuse Stage’s Director of Communications Joseph Whelan said the company needed to find a way to capture plays for a remote audience.
“We had a company called Black Cub Productions,” Whelan said. “They’re local. They’re videographers. They came in with three or four cameras. We built some platforms where the audience would be so they could mount their cameras on the platforms.”
Aside from the cameras, the play’s production was pretty similar to a typical live performance. The only difference was that cameras dull and brighten some colors on the set. The company had to use post-production for the first time to make it look right on video.
Syracuse Stage didn’t originally plan on opening their first remote season with the play “Talley’s Folly.” COVID-19 challenges forced the company to pick a cost-effective play that would allow actors to socially distance. Whelan said “Talley’s Folly” is the perfect play for a pandemic.
“We had to find something that we could do and something that could also be affordable to do,” Whelan said. “So “Talley’s Folly” is two characters, no costume changes and one set. So on some level, it’s very affordable.”
“Talley’s Folly” is so inexpensive because it’s only one scene. The play is one long conversation between a man and a woman. However, Whelan said the play is a lot more than two people chatting.
“It’s an unlikely romance,” Whelan said. “She’s 10 years younger than him. He’s Jewish, she’s Christian at a time where that might have meant something to some people.”
The two actors in the play, Jason O’Connell and Kate Hamill, are actually married in real life. This helped the company organize quarantines for before production.
Tickets are available online until Sunday. After the tickets are purchased, the company sends out a link to the video of the play that expires after 48 hours.
