Alice in the Pandemic

The Inspiration

It's pandemic-time and will be pandemic-time for a long time. Theaters are dark, but the internet is alive with music, song, stories, jokes, plays . . . as performers and artists turn to their webcams and microphones to continue to do what they love. When it became increasingly clear that the shut down was not going to be “temporary” and that we would have to postpone our Fall premiere of Elena Ruehr's Cosmic Cowboy, I was determined that we would not “go dark.” If live performance in the theater was not possible, then we would present live performance on a digital platform. Alice in the Pandemic is created specifically for a digital platform in collaboration with Jorge Sosa, Elena Araoz, (the composer and director of last season's I Am A Dreamer Who No Longer Dreams) and myself. It is a cathartic response to the separation, dislocation, and isolation we all feel today and an acknowledgment of the sacrifice our medical heroes make every day as they put their mission to save lives before themselves.