Imagine that you’re the stage manager of a play.
Now imagine that you’re the stage manager of a performance of “Proof” being performed on somebody’s porch.
Now imagine that you’re the stage manager of a performance of “Proof” being performed on somebody’s porch, and it starts raining in the middle of the show.
For Nina Covalesky, the executive director of the Pottstown, site-specific, professional theater company Theater with a View, it’s those unexpected occurrences that have been “one of the most exciting, and kinda magical, elements of the production.” When rain suddenly showed up uninvited during one show in 2014, the actors responded in character and so effectively incorporated it into what was going on that the weather actually enhanced the performance, she said.
“It breaks down the barrier between artist and audience in a way that’s enriching. It’s really freeing to not draw as much of a magic bubble around yourself. If a helicopter goes overhead (something else that’s happened during a Theater with a View performance), for the audience, it makes it that much more immediate,” Covalesky said.
A resident of New York City, Covalesky got the idea for Theater with a View after seeing a site-specific production in Vermont. However, she had her doubts it would catch on here. “I thought it would just be my family seeing (‘Proof’), and I’d get a weekend in the country. But people came. There are people who came that would never walk into a theater, but they will sit on the lawn,” she said.
Their next annual production at Sycamore Hill Estate, the home of Covalesky’s sister and brother-in-law, is the Pulitzer-winning drama “Rabbit Hole” (which was adapted into a 2010 film starring Nicole Kidman).
The play will be staged entirely outdoors. “This year, I’m putting a living room on grass,” said Theater with a View artistic director Seth Reich on the set design. “I’ve tried to use the property in different ways. I try not to do the same thing twice.” Due to the outdoor nature of the performance, ticket holders may “flex” their date of attendance (pending seat availability) if there is inclement weather.
The cast includes Covalesky as Becca, Drew Seltzer of Drexel Hill (off-Broadway’s “The Franklin Thesis,” “Tony ‘n’ Tina’s Wedding”) as Howie, and Jo Twiss of Bristol (Broadway’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Barrymore nomination for “Moon for the Misbegotten” at Bristol Riverside Theatre) as Nat.
“Rabbit Hole” centers around a seemingly picture-perfect suburban family, and how they deal with the sudden death of their young son in a freak accident. Reich, a New York theater artist and educator who directed the production, said the five-character play contains a meaningful message about healing. “‘Rabbit Hole’ is a beautiful play. I want them to leave the play giving them hope. The audience is there with us; the audience is a character,” he said.
Other past staged Theater with a View productions were “Circle Mirror Transformation” and “Detroit.”
Looking ahead to what the company might do in the coming years, Covalesky said: “We’d like to do something site-specific in Philadelphia in a loft space.”
More non-traditional theater
?This year’s Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company annual free Shakespeare-in-the-parks offering will be “Romeo and Juliet.” Except where noted, performances are at 7 p.m. Visit www.cctheatre.org.
July 6: Hoffman Park, Lansdowne.
July 7: Everhart Park, West Chester.
July 8: West Pikeland Municipal Lawn.
July 9: Green Lane Park, Marlborough Township.
July 12: Morris Arboretum, Philadelphia (Curtain time 6:30 p.m.).
July 13: East Goshen Township Park (Curtain time 6:30 p.m.).
July 15: West Goshen Community Amphitheater, West Goshen.
July 18: McMichael Park, East Falls, Philadelphia.
July 20: Whites Road Park, Lansdale (Curtain time 7:30 p.m.).
July 21: Brookhaven Municipal Park.
July 22: Kimberton Park, Kimberton.
?One of the highlights of Eastern State Penitentiary’s Bastille Day event is outdoor cabaret by the troupe The Bearded Ladies. Save the date for 5:30 to 7 p.m. July 15 in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood. See more at www.easternstate.org/visit/events/bastille-day-0.
?The annual Philadelphia Fringe Festival is usually peppered with site-specific productions. Scheduled for Sept. 7-23 this year, stay tuned for the release of the festival guide at www.fringearts.com.
?”Dedicated to the creation of new and exuberant performance works that defy easy categorization,” Philadelphia’s Pig Iron Theatre Company has done site-specific performance art and traveled their shows to different venues. “A Period of Animate Existence,” a new symphonic theater hybrid, premieres in September. Check www.pigiron.org to see where they’ll present it.
