The University of Lethbridge Drama department has been forced to adapt to Covid , like all other arts groups, so their first mainstage production of the year will be a Zoom experience, which runs Nov. 17-21 online.
Sixteen performers from all over the country have explored the idea of identity for the show, entitled Identuality.
“We’ve been working on a really interesting and dynamic piece of devised virtual theatre,” said director Jay Whitehead, noting devised theatre meant the cast and crew built the show from scratch.
“ The whole show takes place over Zoom. It’s basically a collage of different reflections on different types of identity. Some are solo pieces, and some are group pieces. But ultimately its a reflection on a theme. And we go deep into these ideas and thoughts. The cast is very brave in sharing their stories. And I think that people will find that though it’s being watched via Zoom it through Zoom that it still feels like live theatre because there is that connection to you through the camera But and I thing people will be shocked and surprised by that,” Whitehead said.
“We didn’t start with a script as we typically would in theatre. We actually used the stories of the 16 cast members we’ve assembled to explore themes of identity and sexuality. So the piece contains everything from monologues, to original poetry and music. Really it is just an exploration of identity in all its various forms,“ Whitehead continued, noting despite the distance, the cast dug deep and bared their souls.
“When you’re talking about issues of identity, these are the things you hold really close to our hearts,” Whitehead said.
“We really delved into each cast member’s story and how they identify. As far as each cast member was willing to share. The process became very personal and personal stories that were shared around identity sexuality, gender, religious, racial, all kinds of identities,” he said adding he went into the process with a little bit of trepidation about how to to create a theatrical production out of their stories.
Whitehead was impressed with how close the cast congealed despite not being together.
“ The cast was able to become an ensemble just as if we were in the same room though we were scattered scattered across two provinces and a territory,” he said.
Actor Kacie Hall enjoyed hearing the other cast members’ stories.