Alumni Keeping Theater Alive

For Rachel Johns ‘20, a typical day “starts out with thinking about all of the things you have to do for the play, then you do it.” Johns, along with Gabriel Bassin ‘20, a former Bugle staffer, is working as a producer for a local performance of John Patrick Shanley’s Prodigal Son.

Right now, they are in the beginning phases of production. While they’ve been working behind the scenes for a few weeks, they just recently cast the show, and are working to solidify a rehearsal schedule.

The producers discussed how long they’ve been working on the project. Johns said it’s been a few weeks since they started, but Bassin feels like it’s been more like a month. Their exchange after Bassin’s comment shows the easy rapport the two developed working on shows throughout their high school theater careers.

“It’s been a life-long journey at heart!” Johns joked.

“From the moment Rachel and I found theater…” Bassin responded.

‘It’s been something I’ve been doing since I was born!”

They have had some difficulties figuring out how to rehearse the show during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re not on a conventional schedule right now. Everyone’s doing online things or working in an unconventional manner,” Bassin said, “and as a result, we’re left with trying to mesh together the free time that people have and the opportunities that people have to work on the show, and also creating a safe environment to do so.”

One of the most significant reasons for the differing schedule is the fact that the production is student-run, or as Johns puts it, “We don’t have a theater company backing us up financially.”

This means that actors need to maintain their working schedules since they will not be paid for the show. One of the actors even auditioned virtually while on his lunch break at work.

Despite the challenges, they are determined to see this project reach fruition.

“All artists have the obligation to create their own work. It doesn’t matter what kind of artist you are, or what kind of work it is,” Johns said, “We all create our own work, and for me, it wasn’t so much writing or doing a podcast or something like that. It was producing and directing.”

Bassin is also enthusiastic about the show, saying to Johns, “Then when you so graciously invited me to join you on your crusade, via text, of course, I was very excited  to get the chance to potentially audition for a character, and then beyond that, also get involved behind the scenes, working as a stage manager and helping with the whole production process.”

They have been especially cautious about operating during the pandemic, moving the show and all in-person meetings outside, asking actors to check their temperature regularly and minimize infection risks outside of theater, and requiring all actors to use hand sanitizer before going on stage. However, they acknowledged that there was still some inherent risk despite their best efforts. Bassin said, “Theater is an intimate thing, so naturally there’s going to be some riskier steps that we take, but the goal is, within that, to minimize the risk.”

Nevertheless, they are moving forward with the production as planned. As Johns said, “We also have our first production meeting tomorrow, and after that, things are just going to start rolling, like down a very steep hill.”

They also have an Instagram page, @prodigalsonjax, where they have a link to a GoFundMe page where they are raising money for the production, using which they have raised $780 of their $2000 goal.

The performances will be on December 6th and 13th at 4 pm at the North Bank River Walk Artist Square, where the Riverside Arts Market takes place.

“It’s beautiful,” Bassin said. “It’s right along the river, right in Riverside, and please, please, please come see our show.”