A few weeks before PM&L Theatre plans to open in September, the troupe will offer its patrons a teaser — a filmed live performance of two 1920s-era comedic plays about love.
The free streamed show, with a link on the theater’s website, isn’t a Zoom production, but rather a hybrid between a movie and live theater. It’s called PM&L (Recorded) Live on Main Street, in deference to the theater’s motto, “Live on Main Street.”
It will be available by Aug. 26 on the theater’s website for anyone who wants to stream it on demand.
Adam Armstrong, the show’s director, said he wanted to produce a filmed live onstage production akin to what people have seen with “Hamilton,” for example, or an earlier film of a live theater show, “Into the Woods.”
Armstrong, who has some behind-the-camera experience, found a semiprofessional camera operator and film editor, Wes Mrowka, to join the venture.
Next the theater personnel searched for just the right play to present.
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“We wanted to do comedy — we felt people had enough drama,” Armstrong said. “We wanted shows that were lighthearted if not laugh-out funny, and to avoid depressing themes.”
They chose two short plays, “Sweet and Twenty” by Floyd Dell and “Yesterday” by Colin Campbell Clements, both written in the 1920s.
The Dell play “is a very sweet, funny show,” Armstrong said. “It’s about young love and the joy of finding new love from a slightly lighthearted and comical point of view.”
“Yesterday” reconnects a couple that were in love when in their 20s. It’s been 40 years since they’ve seen each other,” Armstrong said. “Misunderstandings, miscommunications caused them to be apart for 40 years and now they happen to run into each other again.”
The playwrights “approach the subject of love with two different lenses — obviously the age difference between the characters is a big one,” Armstrong said. “They both take the time to examine the joy of love but also its pitfalls. I think they both come to the conclusion that it’s worth it even with the possibilities of stumbling blocks.”
Armstrong said they opted for filming the live production rather than using the Zoom format, often used by theater companies during the pandemic.
“With Zoom, only one person could be seen at a time, each in a gallery of boxes,” he said. He preferred to have multiple players interacting.
From Day One of rehearsal, Armstrong said he wanted the camera to be part of the process.
While actors were rehearsing on stage, they were getting used to being in front of the camera and the camera operator was planning what kinds of shots to take when the live performance was ready to be filmed.
Armstrong has made tweaks with blocking, while moving the camera in different places in the auditorium to see what’s most interesting.
“We can put the camera anywhere we want, in the building or on the stage,” Armstrong said. “It’s very exciting. Everybody’s completely new to this particular process. We’re all enjoying learning it together.”
As the director, Armstrong is stressing to the cast that neither of the playwrights take themselves too seriously, nor are they trying to change anyone’s viewpoint. “They’re just presenting some ideas in a fun and lighthearted way,” he said.
Both plays also point to literary works, something Armstrong said he didn’t realize until rehearsals began. “Sweet and Twenty” is set in a cherry orchard, a wink to Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard.” In “Yesterday,” a character mentions a British novelist.
Armstrong said the planned Aug. 26 release date of the show, will be a few weeks before the theater reopens to show a one-man act play, “Einstein,” Sept. 10, 11 and 12. Another show is scheduled in October and “The Christmas Carol” will run in December, he said.
The theater is also planning a 2022/2023 season, which Armstrong called “ambitious. We’re very excited,.”
PM&L (Recorded) Live on Main Street
Where: Virtual
When: Opening Aug. 26
Tickets: Free
Information: 847-395-3055, pmltheatre.com
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
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