Photo courtesy Virginia Repertory Theatre
Trouble announced itself from offstage.
Virginia Repertory Theatre, Richmond’s largest performing arts organization, maintains multiple local stages and a robust touring schedule for schools and other groups throughout the region. Director of Touring Operations Eric Williams suspended spring season operations on March 13. Of the five road troupes presenting shows at that time, only the cast of “I Have a Dream” was out of state and recalled from Cabarrus County, North Carolina.
Williams’ communication to the client venues said in part, “This is a difficult decision, but we think it is the correct and responsible one,” he wrote. “As partners, we rely on each other to keep our audiences and staffs safe.”
The remaining performances at Hanover Tavern of the then-running “39 Steps” were canceled.
Set building was underway for “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” with the cast expected at rehearsals on March 17 for a scheduled April 10 opening. That ended March 13, along with cancellation of the remaining shows at Theatre Gym of the Cadence Theatre Co.’s “Small Mouth Sounds.”
“We are postponing some of our shows into the next season,” Liz Nance, Virginia Rep’s spokesperson, explains. “We plan to announce the new season later in April. ‘Chicago,’ our big summer musical, is canceled for this summer. A lot of design and costume work was begun that could be utilized at a later time.”
Shows scheduled for the Willow Lawn Children’s Theatre, “Freckleface Strawberry” and “Elephant & Piggie’s: We Are in a Play” will go into next season. Hanover Tavern shows “A Late Morning [in America] With Ronald Reagan” and “Bonnie and Claire” and the Signature main stage show “A Doll’s House, Part 2” will likewise receive slots further down the calendar.
The 42-member permanent staff is on housebound hiatus.
In his Director’s Circle newsletter, Artistic Director Nathaniel Shaw recalled lines from Tom Stoppard’s script of “Shakespeare in Love.” (Virginia Rep produced a stage adaptation in 2017.) In the play, Philip Henslowe is pursued by creditors demanding payment though the playhouses are closed by plague. The character’s dialogue speaks to the nature of theater later recited in green rooms and boardroom tables across the globe.
“The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster … strangely enough it all turns out. … I don’t know how, it’s a mystery.”
Shaw cited the faith demonstrated by Terrence McNally’s work (McNally died from COVID-19 complications in late March) and the theater professionals who’ve brought to life his and many other plays and, too, the resilience as expressed by Stoppard and Henslowe.
The heart-wrenching reality, Shaw continued, is that members of the theater community are furloughed for the unknowable future.
“We will all need one another on the other side of this,” Shaw concluded, “and the theatre, including this theatre that is so deeply woven into the fabric of RVA, will need both its audience and benefactors like never before.”
Visit Virginia Rep's website for updates on its COVID-19 response.
