Bars And Measures. Photo by Ed Krieger
Theater fans have been bereft since March, when venues in Pasadena and the rest of the country closed their doors due to the coronavirus lockdown. But many continue to engage audiences with virtual performances and online gatherings. Boston Court, for one, has come to the rescue with a new monthly Book Club focused on scripts of “plays with a purpose.”
The idea is to remind everyone that plays have power. After all, as the company notes on its website, Shakespeare famously wrote, “They hold a mirror up to nature.” So each month, the club will study a play with vital relevance to today, followed by a casual community conversation about the script and the story.
The series, led by directors and dramaturgs, kicks off at 4 p.m. Sunday with Bars and Measures by award-winning playwright-rapper Idris Goodwin, which had its world premiere at Boston Court in 2016. The play is about two brothers who are both musicians – classical pianist Eric is Christian, while jazz bassist Bilal is Muslim – who are separated by prison bars and their religious convictions, but connect through their shared language of music.
The Zoom-based event costs $9, which includes a PDF copy of the script (in a special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.). Participants are asked to read the play before the event, so it’s best to sign up quickly in order to join in on Sunday. The club is open to all, although parents will be guided by age-appropriate ratings like the ones for movies.
Buy a “ticket” at BostonCourtPasadena.org and make sure to download the Zoom app before the event. When the gathering starts, click on the link to attend, which will be in the confirmation email sent upon your purchase. For help installing Zoom, email helpdesk@bostoncourtpasadena.
Once on Zoom, participants’ faces will appear to other participants if they turn on the video function, but wallflowers can easily keep their camera off and just switch on the audio (although Boston Court’s creative team hopes attendees will keep their camera on as the company cultivates the community it serves).
“At the start of the pandemic, we heard from our audience that they were missing the sense of community and connection that they had loved in our lobby and in our theaters,” explains Jenny Cohn, senior marketing and communications manager for Boston Court.
“They also were bemoaning missing the experience of the thought-provoking work they have become accustomed to at Boston Court. Book Club came about as a direct result to fulfill that need, while staying true to the type of art that we like to create.”
Cohn notes that Bars and Measures was selected to inaugurate the Book Club because the theater’s artistic team considers it “an example of a true Boston Court play.”
“It lives perfectly in the middle of our artistic values, which include inherent theatricality, text that is rich, and a visually stunning stage picture,” says Cohn. “It also does something else we’re passionate about, which is to wrestle with themes that are resonating with our current moment in the world. It’s been interesting to reexamine this play, as these themes had powerful resonance in 2016, and have a very different but equally powerful resonance now. We’re always fascinated how time changes the ways in which we experience plays.”
On Sept. 13 at 4 p.m., the Book Club will examine Shiv by Bulgarian-Indian playwright-actress Aditi Kapil, which looks at the ripples of post-colonialism. The play, produced by Boston Court in 2015, is sparked by magical realism, in keeping with the series’ focus on wide-ranging content – and the theater’s creative team is open to recommendations for future selection.
Shiv is “incredibly poetic,” says Cohn. “Shiv explores immigration and colonialism through the lens of a young South Asian woman who has moved to the United States, and transforms it into a fantastical personal journey. The play wrestles with some very complicated father-daughter relationship dynamics through gorgeous text that is both lyrical and surreal. We’re excited for the conversation!”
For more about the Boston Court Book Club, visit bostoncourtpasadena.org/
