May 22, 20203 min
Updated: May 23, 2020
Social-distancing won’t stop interactive theater
In Madrid, it's 1 a.m. Angel meets new guests from Miami in his apartment. In Singapore, its early morning, 6 a.m. Sabrina is staying at home and doing the same. Flights are not canceled – not delayed. Everything happens on time. The passengers are coming. The size of the room doesn't matter. Everyone is welcomed. The strangers might be quiet and tired, or talkative and ready to interact. This experience meets you as you are and where you are. Just take a ticket. It's Long Distance Affair.
The one-week online trip-performance is produced by Miami’s own Juggerknot Theater Company — you might remember meeting them at Ocean Terrace — and New York-based PopUP Theatrics. Miami is joining five other cities (Paris, Singapore, London, Madrid and NYC) to tell its own 10-minute story, which has been written by Juan C. Sanchez and directed by Tamilla Woodard. The entire process, including zoom-rehearsals, spanned about a month.
In these brief yet intimate theatrical encounters, audiences anywhere can tune in from their own homes to “visit” one city, or pick a "package" that includes three stops. The experience might be as intimate as a one-on-one with you and the actor, or you could find yourself in a tour group with up to four other strangers.
This interactive performance, made virtual, is a particularly dynamic experience. The actors have to serve as their own lighting technicians, stagehands, stage managers, costumers and technical directors. The audience is also challenged. No moment is exactly the same twice. Each person is essentially becoming another potential cast member.
Whichever destination you select, there is legitimately an actor in that city at that very moment. No green-screen or make-believe here. All the locations are real.
The first edition of Long Distance Affair was born in 2011. The idea was to bring in artists from different cultures to the same (virtual) space and offer the audience an opportunity to experience an intimate encounter through a computer screen.
"We wanted to explore how deep can a human connection be if there is no physical contact at all,” continues Ana. "Since 2011, Long Distance Affair engaged over 75 artists from six continents and was performed for audiences located in New York, Mexico, Buenos Aires, Edinburgh, and Bucharest. This will be the 7th edition. So, the idea is not new, but COVID-19 lockdown made us want to bring it back."
What Long Distance Affair.
When 7 to 9 pm Saturday, May 23, through Saturday, May 30.
Tickets cost $11 to $40 via longdistanceaffair.info.
Also, 65% of all proceeds will go to the artists.