Theater is constantly moving between mediums. From radio plays to vaudeville’s transformation into televised variety shows, actors and technicians now find their stage to be TikTok and Twitch.
Profits and mass exposure drove much of the migration toward on-screen performance — but today, with venues closed, it is survival that is driving theater companies to adapt plays for live broadcast. But the Women’s Theatre Festival is not allowing necessity to stand in the way of innovation.
WTF Executive Artistic Director Johannah Maynard Edwards explains to host Anita Rao the ways live-streaming offers opportunities for audience accessibility and national networking for the Raleigh-based festival. Rao previews three of the shows featured in this year’s festival, including a conversation with Kameron Southerland and Shea Stanley about their hilarious interpretation of a middle school talent show forced onto Zoom that WTF hosts onJuly 11 at 1:30 p.m. Southerland and Stanley write and perform as the comedic duo Taking This Seriously. The 2020 Women’s Theatre Festival includes online workshops, performances and seminars from July 1 to August 1.