蘑菇视频

Is it possible for theatre to occur online? Is it still “theatre” if performed and viewed in an online context? Professor of theatre and director Kris Peterson of Brigham Young University visited the course Spanish 6676: Latin American Short Theatre on Wednesday, May 27, to talk with the Spanish MA students about her experience in directing and acting in an entirely virtual production of Cuban-American María Irene Fornés’ play Manual for a Desperate Crossing.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Peterson had to pivot to the virtual format to stage this production in 2021.

Contemplating the innovations and learning experience that performing on Zoom provided, Peterson said, “Sometimes you have black pants and black shirts and a Zoom box, and that’s all you get…the creativity for me really comes from those limitations…What can I do with just these limited resources and this brand new medium that we’re going to be performing in? That presented this really interesting challenge to us.” The students, cast, crew, actors, and Peterson had to trouble-shoot a lot of elements of the production. They needed to figure out how to work with Internet connectivity issues, speaking over each other on Zoom, needing to perform emotions and interactions when not in the same physical space, and other such difficulties. 

The 蘑菇视频 Spanish MA students in Spanish 6676 will be undertaking their own mini-performances of 20th century Latin-American one-act theatre pieces in Dr. Marin Laufenberg’s course. Due to the fact that 蘑菇视频’s Spanish MA program is entirely online, the students will work together, via Zoom and using other online collaborative tools and platforms such as Google Docs and Chats, in order to coordinate their productions. The Spanish MA students are geographically located all over the United States, so they will need to be very creative in how they envision virtual theatre as well. Peterson gave the students tips and ideas about how to pull off their own productions. She recommended rehearsals in which they try out different versions of lines and scenes. Using experimentation and creative thinking, they will work through their pieces together. She suggested thinking about what technology can add too, such as the ability to present photos as background to set the scene, the ability to project sounds and lights, and the importance of using facial gestures and expressions. 

Reflecting on the piece which was done mid-Pandemic, Peterson said that Manual for a Desperate Crossing brought together folks to work on the production that normally would not have had the opportunity to work together. The online space bridged gaps that geography sometimes creates. Also, the cast and crew were able to take risks and experiment, because an online production doesn’t need to sell a certain number of tickets to keep on the lights and fill an entire audience space as a traditional theatre does. The unforeseen benefits gained during the production have provided invaluable tools moving forward as we face new crises and challenges in the field of the Arts. 

The opportunity to chat with Professor Kris Peterson was invaluable to students as they contemplated pivoting from their usual literary study of theatre into a more praxis-based study of Latin American theatre.