Kevin Duffy is an LA-based actor, filmmaker and writer, who recently performed in Refracted Theater Company’s Homeless Garden—a reimagination of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard set in present-day where climate change and politics coincide. The play was performed live in New York City using a technique called panto-theater, where audience members listen to pre-recorded audio of the play on headphones while watching actors perform live at a distance.
ARTILLERY: Can you describe the showings of the play and how the live performances came together?
KEVIN DUFFY: It was socially distanced, COVID-compliant. We performed in two public parks in New York City. The audio of the play was pre-recorded, so it was like a soundtrack in a movie. The audience was about 50 people, which was limited by the number of headsets we had, and the audience and actors were listening to the same audio in the headsets. In Prospect Park, which was the first performance—we were among the trees—which was great for the play, and the next week we did it in Central Park. The sets were the environment.
Photo by Kayla Williamson.
What were the logistics of rehearsal for the actors regarding COVID?
We had two days of rehearsal in person and we rehearsed by Zoom individually with the director beforehand.
How did panto-theater differ from other theater experiences you’ve had as an actor?
We wanted it to be a theater experience but it did feel a lot like dance because there was so much focus on the movement. I guess I had an advantage because I’ve done dance and I’m really comfortable with movement. It was like performing to a musical score except the score was actual audio to the play.
Did you find the movements were more exaggerated in regards to dance or typical theater?
That was part of the process; the director didn’t want them to be too dance-y but we are in this very strange situation in which we are wearing masks, have headphones on, and have to communicate physically with people who are at a distance outdoors. So you do have to adjust the scale of the performance to the environment.
Photo by Kayla Williamson.
How do you see the future of theater progressing in light of COVID?
You hear about productions that are ramping up and different attempts to do theater in safer environments. Hopefully the theater-makers can acknowledge this is what’s going on and make that work for the piece. So instead of pretending that everything’s normal and I’m just standing behind plexiglass, wearing a mask, if that’s the case then it becomes part of the set or part of the design. So in this case the way the director incorporated that is by having us outdoors, by having us in a natural environment, which really worked with this particular play.
Recordings of the performance of Homeless Garden are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Website: https://www.refractedco.com/homeless-garden.
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