How did you start working on Communion?
I started working on Communion after an email from Pam to see if I was interested in a new, as-yet-to-be-written Christopher Chen play. I was, so Pam and I got together on Zoom and . . . well, met, because we hadn’t in real life, and kinda sounded each other out. To our mutual satisfaction, you might say.
What is it like to act in a play written and done through Zoom?
The process has been hand-in-glove, because it’s all been conceived around the fact that it IS on Zoom. So we haven’t had to solve problems that most Zoom productions have faced, having to do with locations and scene partners and camera angles and so on. Zoom isn’t theater and it isn’t film—it’s neither fish nor fowl. That’s this play.
As to process, much is the same; lines to be learned, actions to be discerned, outcomes striven for. The real difference was not being in a room with anyone else until the second week [of rehearsal] and then still keeping our social distance. Odd, but weirdly exhilarating!
What do you hope the audience will take away from Communion?
I’m just thankful for people who care to come watch and join in.
