RED BARN POSTPONES SEASON DUE TO COVID CONCERNS
PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102
For Immediate Release
“The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley.”
Those iconic lines from Robert Burns’ famous poem “To A Mouse” seem to be quoted a great deal these days, as the pandemic continues to force more and more well-laid plans to be postponed, if not cancelled altogether.
Such is the case with Key West’s Red Barn Theatre, which recently announced it’s carefully-planned 41st Season, which was to take place outdoors under the stars in the venerable theater’s spacious Zabar Courtyard. They called their season theme “Outside the Box” – taking their live productions to their outdoor stage, where social distancing and open spacing would greatly reduce the anxiety of possible COVID infection.
“We had a beautiful stage designed and ready to go,” said Managing Director Mimi McDonald, “which would have kept the audience back about twelve feet. And we’d worked out several protocols regarding spaced out seating by pods, bar service, and were even looking into designing digital programs that could be accessed by your mobile phone.”
It might have worked, but it became apparent that city guidelines regarding entertainers – where they must either be separated from their audience by a Plexiglas partition, or wear masks during their performance – were not going to be feasible for a live theater performance, even outdoors. And concern for the well-being of their patrons as the virus cases were increasing and expecting to continue to do so was put foremost in management’s mind. For the safety of all, the decision was made to postpone until conditions improve.
So until the pandemic abates, or vaccines are more widely available and effective, the Red Barn will hold off on proceeding with their season. This includes the World Premiere of Hy Conrad’s new play, “Quarantine for 2”, planned for January, as well as the planned live performances of Bess Wohl’s “Cats Talk Back” in February, and Jane Martin’s “Sez She” in March.
The Red Barn is going to continue with their streaming offerings however, following the enthusiastic reception of their first online streaming production of Nora and Delia Ephron’s “Love, Loss and What I Wore,” which completes it’s run Saturday.
“We’ll be making an announcement soon on what will be available in the New Year,” said McDonald, “but fans of theater and supporters of the Red Barn should make plans to catch the free streaming of Darrin Hagen’s hilarious ‘With Bells On’, which will run from December 16th through the 20th on our website, redbarntheatre.com.”
“With Bells On” was a smash hit for the Red Barn last Christmas season, directed and costumed by Christopher Peterson and starring Trey Gerrard and Don Bearden. It’s a very funny play about a meek and mild accountant trapped in an elevator with a flamboyant drag queen on Christmas Eve. To view the play, just go to redbarntheatre.com and click on the link for the play.
For now, the Red Barn will continue to monitor developments and the city’s guidelines, and as soon as it is deemed safe, will resume their season of live performances. But for now, it’s a wait-and-see game, as it is with most everyone else.
“We’ll be back,” said McDonald. “But for now, let’s all stay safe and do what we can, which for us, is to offer our online streaming theatrical events. We’ll see you soon.”
For more information on the Red Barn, visit redbarntheatre.com.