In past years, Theatre @ York has hosted sold out performances of live theatre. Productions of established plays, devised theatre pieces, and new plays written by York students are all part of a standard Theatre @ York season.
These shows are performed throughout York’s performance venues, including the 360-seat Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre, the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre, and include elaborate sets that are designed and built by York’s theatre production students.
This year, Theatre @ York’s season is staged a little bit differently. Fall term performances will be produced in an online format. This strategy is becoming more common across the industry of live performance as artists search for ways to make their work accessible to audiences amid physical distancing restrictions associated with COVID-19.
The purpose of Theatre @ York is to showcase the work of York’s theatre department. Part of York’s Faculty of the Arts, Media, Performance, and Design (AMPD), theatre students have the opportunity to specialize in different components of the theatre industry including production and design, acting, and performance creation, which includes devised theatre and playwriting and new play dramaturgy.
These pieces of digital theatre demonstrate artists’ willingness to rethink what ‘theatre’ is and adapt it to our new reality. The plays are exciting and thrive because of their digital realms, not in spite of them.
Sara Masciotra-Milstein is a fourth-year theatre student specializing in new play dramaturgy and is experiencing opportunities that are specifically catered to new industry challenges.
“Theatre @ York’s season has adapted this year to include two specially commissioned pieces of theatre, written by Canadian playwrights Aaron Jan and Tabia Lau,” Masciotra-Milstein says. “This continues to be an exciting experience for the undergraduate students involved.”
Both of these works were written specifically to be produced in an online format.
In a statement released on the theatre department’s website, Chairperson Professor Marlis Schweitzer also highlighted these specially commissioned works. “The plays are directed by faculty member David Jansen and feature a cast and crew of students in performance creation, with support from masters of fine arts (MFA) students, designers, and others. This is a new venture for the department and we’re excited to see how it develops.”
Masciotra-Milstein is working as a dramaturge for both plays. “These pieces of digital theatre demonstrate artists’ willingness to rethink what “theatre” is and adapt it to our new reality. The plays are exciting and thrive because of their digital realms, not in spite of them,” Masciotra-Milstein says.
These new plays are not the only Theatre @ York event that will be produced remotely this year. “The Ashley Plays will kick things off with a bang on October 25 with a series of site-specific plays from the third- and fourth-year playwriting class, presented remotely,” Schweitzer said.
The Ashley Plays are a series of short monodramas produced by the theatre department’s playwriting class. Each monodrama features a character named Ashley and is associated with a specific setting—traditionally this event takes place as a walking tour on York’s campus. This year, settings are determined by the playwrights, and the monodramas will be filmed.
In her statement, Schweitzer did not specify if winter term events will be performed remotely.
