When in doubt, start a podcast. Towards the start of all of this, I read an article that said, “Now is the time to finally do the things you have put on the back burner.” Now is the time to read the books you have set aside or learn a new baking technique. This moment that we have been sitting in since March 15 ,2020 has been uncomfortable to say the least. I am in the same situation as everyone else. This virus has decimated our entertainment industry. There has been great resilience and innovative thinking, but without being able to deliver a live performance, theatre artists everywhere are trying to figure out where they fit. I know for us in particular, we have just been floating along, hoping and reaching for an end to all of this. Spending your life training for something and then for that thing to just disappear with no end in sight, has made me a pretty fragile person… I used to think I was really good at accepting change and seeing the new path and running down it. This experience has shown me that I can't run alone. There are times when you need your community to help you rise above it. When we learned that our production of To Kill a Mockingbird was going to be canceled due to the virus, it hit me like a dump truck full of bricks. I feel like I handled this in the worst way possible. I pushed it to the side and said, ‘I’ll deal with that later.” Well, after many “laters,” I can say that I am much more positive about it now. My head is just a little bit more out of the sand than it was before. I am excited for this production when we finally come out of this.
On top of worrying about the state of Play On Theatre Co., Lexie has been worried about our local community theatre, The Fox, where she is board president. I guess this year, we have two theatres to worry about under our Covid-19 tree. Luckily, we live around some truly amazing people. In this moment of despair, Lexie and I found so much support from our community. They lifted our heads up and pushed us forward. This summer at The Fox Theatre, we were able to produce a safe summer workshop. It was a very stressful experience, but the effort and caution displayed by our parents and community members in Central Louisiana was astounding. Every one of those parents showed up for us and their kids 100 percent everyday. It showed me just how strong and necessary our theatre community really is. During this summer workshop Lexie, myself, and our friend Chris McDowell started talking a little more seriously about what the next step would be for Play On Theatre Co. How can we still deliver a message in some form that fits with our mission as a company? How do we still influence our community and facilitate change? Is there a platform that we can use to celebrate these champions in our community? Those people who have given us so much support and love during this time? Turns out there is and has been a platform that is perfect for getting our message/stories out there.
Chris and myself often meet up and talk about theatre. We tell stories from past shows we have seen or been in. One weekend while hosting a trivia night at Tamp & Grind Coffee Shop, someone approached us and said, “Y’all should have your own podcast.” We kinda laughed it off thinking “when would we ever have time for something like that?” Well…. I guess that question has been answered. The time is now. I am so happy that we are setting sail on this new adventure. Creating another format to spread the joy of live performance and the amazing ability it can have to transform a community. After we sat down to practice recording we decided that this was going to be a very fun and joyous journey… which i think we both needed. If you listen to Episode Zero the Prequel, then you will notice it starts out with us just fumbling along in the dark. Then, we just started having a convo that seemed to evolve into something (I think) that is quite special. This podcast is not here to replace what we do. In fact I think this podcast will only strengthen our mission and add another insight into our live performances (when they come back), giving our audience even more avenues to access how and why we make certain decisions. My hope for Scene Partners is that it will bring some joy and laughter back into the conversation. When we talk about the theatre now it feels like we focus on the loss of it. Scene Partners will be a celebration of all things theatre. We chose the name Scene Partners because Chris and I are just that. We have had and continue to have a great friendship, but all of that started because first- we were Scene Partners.