“Alone/Together” Is An Evening Of Theater, But Audience: Stay In Your Car
A few weeks ago, a group of Broadway actors, dancers, designers and stage managers hightailed themselves out of New York to participate in a kind of summer stage experience in Columbia County. But, like everything else this season, this is not your ordinary summer theater. The group has been in our area working on “Alone/Together,” a site-specific, socially-distanced theater piece that requires the audience to follow the action while in their cars. On its Kickstarter page, the production bills itself as “an immersive, drive-through theater piece created by a company of multi-disciplinary artists in Upstate New York.” And that’s obviously caught the imagination of many, because “Alone/Together” surpassed its funding goal.
Artists everywhere have been devising creative ways to make up for canceled gigs, but this production could be ground breaking. It’s the brainchild of director Michael Arden (two-time Tony nominated director of Broadway’s "Spring Awakening" and "Once on This Island"), who freely calls it an experiment. The show will be staged somewhere in the Hudson Valley, probably sometime this weekend; the limited number of audience members will receive instructions on when and where to drive and park. It’s all a bit mysterious and, unfortunately, sold out. But what Arden is trying to accomplish is compelling, and the reason for the fundraising (beyond the housing and feeding of the company) is admirable. We wanted to know more.
John Campbell, RI’s new contributor, got wind of this intriguing project. He was able to pull Arden away from rehearsals to elaborate on this grand experiment.
JC: What was the inspiration to produce a creative, and inclusive production upstate, NY?
MA: The inspiration was that I wanted to see if I could help out my friends at The Vanderbilt Lakeside. It's an incredible business for Philmont, New York, the town I live in. That was the initial inspiration, and then I was also aware of my fellow artists, feeling a desperate need to create. I thought, we’re going to have to find a way forward together, and create safely, and share art safely with audiences. I got a bunch of art minds together, and we worked together to create this production, theater and dance together. Matt and Henrietta there at Vanderbilt Lakeside were on board in supporting this effort. This is a sharing of resources, ideas and opportunities, for work, and staying afloat in these times. We can say it’s a benefit for Vanderbilt, but it’s also an experiment for forward thinking adults, creating art safety.
JC: Aside from the fundraising effort, what do you want to accomplish with attendees (who seem to be playing some role)?
MA: We want to make the audience an active participant in this production. We are trying out various forms of technology, smartphones, cars, earphones, all as the audience is watching a show from a distance. I’m sure that it may crash and burn, but it’s a real experiment. For example, can people get directions on their phones and make it on time to the performance, or can we put wireless info on a phone, and then have conversations with our audiences to see what was exciting.
Actors face off during a rehearsal, with Michael Arden at left.
JC: Let’s talk about the two of the greatest yet most significant occurrences of 2020 so far — COVID-19, and race and injustice. How has your life been impacted by the pandemic? Secondly, what are your thoughts on race in America?
MA: I’ve been away from NYC, which is enormous. Being away from people, when what I do for a living and the thing I love most is to be as close to human beings as possible, this has all really been a bit of a shock. I’ve learned new skills, and question how I have been living my life, and how to move forward. Regarding race and injustice, obviously, we are in an incredibly potent and important time. We can all witness in a way that we have never been able to see the racial injustice. It’s saddening, but we are seeing really horrible things about our culture, and how we view our brothers and sisters. It has all illuminated itself as a perfect storm. The conversations have come up often in the work we’re doing. It is a time of reflection and action. We must make change that touches every part of our lives. Without COVID-19, we wouldn’t have paid attention.
JC: Diversity and inclusion in the expressive world of theater has and still is evolving. You have the LGBTQ, women creating on- and off-Broadway productions, also more productions for communities of color. How do you feel about where we are in theater in 2020 (besides COVID-19 challenges)?
MA: We have a long way to go. There’s serious systemic racism in this country. I grew up in the South, in Texas. We’ve been taught a way of life that we don’t even see as noninclusive. It’s going to take a lot of questioning, slowing down, asking people how they feel, hearing their story, and we now need to have those uncomfortable conversations. In my hometown where I grew up, they flew the Confederate flag at the high school, without us as kids realizing what that is, or how incredibly and deeply oppressive that is. It never crossed my mind what we were celebrating. There’s much work to be done, including in theater.
JC: Do you have any plans for further performances in the near future?
MA: Not right now. We don’t have many opportunities to do this type of thing, and there are actors associations where there are some concerns with what we’re doing. But we are hoping that this leads to other companies seeing that we can work together, and maybe forge ideas that inspire other people to do the same. Ultimately right now the performance isn’t the goal, it's the exploration.
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