Photo by Kevin A. Roberts
Ron Himes
The Black Rep is making the most of the pandemic-forced absence from the physical theater with virtual presentations of two plays and a conversation with the playwright between productions.
The company is streaming a Zoom reading of Melda Beaty’s Coconut Cake this weekend, presented in conjunction with The Ensemble Theatre in Houston, and then will mount a virtual production of its own of Beaty’s Front Porch Society on September 25. On the 18th, Beaty and artistic director Eileen Morris of the Ensemble will discuss both works.
“We miss our audiences, we miss the chatter in the lobby before the house opens, we miss the immediate reaction of audiences in the theater,” say Ron Himes, founder and producing director of the Black Rep. “But this virtual world has become the next best thing.”
Initially skeptical of virtual productions, Himes says he got a call from good friend Morris at the Ensemble, who tapped him for a role in that company’s reading of Coconut Cake, which streamed originally in late June. After he saw how well it went, Himes wanted to co-produce the show—a look at late-life marital discord, exquisite baked goods, and secrets—for St. Louis audiences.
Morris was enthusiastic, and Himes also reached out to playwright Beaty about a post-show discussion for St. Louis audiences, as she’d done in Houston. She, too, was on board—and mentioned to Himes another play of hers, Front Porch Society, which looks at one woman’s bitter grief on the eve of America’s election of its first Black president.
“How about we make September Melda Beaty month?” Himes says he asked her. “We do both plays, and in the middle, we have a talk with you.”
Himes says that many aspects of theater are a little awkward to navigate in a world gone virtual, but it’s very worth it to do so.
“For me as an actor, it’s a little strange. You have to get used to not being in the room, not being able to make eye contact, not being able to feel the energy you feel from fellow actors in the moment,” he says. “There’s nothing like being onstage, getting that immediate reaction. For our artistic directors and producers to stand in the back of the room and hear that collective laugh or collective gasp—those are things we will never be able to duplicate virtually.”
But audiences are hungry for productions, he says. And they’ve been deeply moved by the virtual ones he’s seen and participated in. Plus, the move to the online space has allowed for casting across geography, and allows companies to continue supporting artists, writers, and actors and the creative urge during the pandemic.
“I just hope that we’re able to get back into the theaters soon,” Himes says, “because as wonderful as these options are, nothing beats being in the theater.”
The reading of Coconut Cake will be available for viewing here at 7 p.m. on Friday.
