Two white theatrical masks leaning against one another against a black background.
March 2020 served as a rebirth for theater. It has been a conquest to consider health, in a medium that thrives off of socialization. A catalyst was born out of the pandemic. An evolution of thought.
Paul Notice directs a filmed adaptation of Mirrors by Azure D Osborne-Lee. In the black space. The negative space left within the dark gives the space its name. It's a double entendre that pays ode to Black artists, as well.
It directs your attention “only to the characters,” a paraphrasing of Paul's words.
The black space does much more than this, though. And any work that comes after this, is posing similar questions like 'What now in theater?'
What can happen now is dependent on our imagination and resources?
Advantages of Filming
A Black man holds a clapperboard.
There is something very groundbreaking within this medium. Something informs our future, here. When theater is a challenge to make, what else can we do?
We make it anyway, with the resources available to us. We tread the plague by creating different ways to consume stories. Parity Productions is certainly not the only one to make this work.
The future shifts without prompting. Just as a story does. There may be triggers and heaps unknown to the outcomes. However, this is when the creative process begins again. When we are met with obstacles, with an objective that remains, even if obsolete.
And what are we creating in the process of overcoming these obstacles? Is it a recreation of a moment that we have seen in theatre audiences before?
These answers are for the artistic direction to execute. A choice of style for the production. An imperative choice to make. It will deeply depend on the artistic goals of the exact production.
Disadvantages of Filming
A Black woman holding a clapperboard.
Gaining access to the equipment can be expensive. Just as tickets to a show can be expensive. There are creative perspectives that many artists can cultivate within reasonable camera prices. But reasonability is relative.
It's something to consider. The disparity can be found within the doors creating theater, along with outside of it. Money will always be an essential part to making media.
I don't underestimate the novelty that theater makers will find... in whatever material they have. What creativity births out of the medium of film and theater, can be endless. And you’ll see this in Mirrors.
But, I digress. There are still many things to consider, in the conceptualization of film making of any kind.
There are many financial elements to consider. Listed below are a few:
Sound/Editing
Video/Director of Photography
Video Editing
Music
Mics on set
Lighting
Of course this should not limit you, there are ways to get creative without. And perhaps access to resources, you did not know you had. Theater is not as stiff as a medium, as many might like to present.
New Theatrical Experiences
Do theatre productions need to make you feel as if you are actually within a theatre? Are you creating a moment unlike any moment?
This is an evolution of theater. Theater artists during this era in history, might consider film.
Those who love it. Unconditionally, regardless of form.
These are the types of works that we should encourage, and are part of accepting our new reality. There should be more access to virtual productions. If we care about the form being preserved, and if we truly care about access.
Mirrors creates moments unlike other moments. You shouldn’t go into expecting Hamilton the Musical. But instead something that feeds a novice void within art. It's a style of its own. You should go into Mirrors expecting something that feels familiar. But you won't remember seeing it before. The perspective is new, or in some ways an old stranger. Reacquainting itself.
By the way, are you in New York City? Click here for ticket information to the Mirrors set to premiere on November 10th, 2021.