It's been well over a year since our March 2020 shut down. We've pivoted from in-person productions to a 6-play virtual season. We just launched the final production in our season, The House That Jack Built. To say that it’s been a very full year at the IRT is an understatement.
 
Collectively, we've learned and grown in more ways than we could have ever imagined. As we share gratitude with our audiences for being with us on this wild virtual ride, we also give thanks to all of our staff who have been on the inside of that ride: from the Theatre or their homes, in-person or by Zoom. We have asked our staff to share how their work has changed over this last year, and what’s kept them going. Here are just a few notes from various members of our talented team.
 

James Still, IRT Playwright-in-Residence
 
How has the very nature of your work changed? What's been the most challenging part about this season? What's been the most rewarding experience in this season? 
As a writer, I’m no stranger to disappearing for weeks or months at a time as I fully immerse myself in whatever world I’m inventing, in the stories that characters are revealing to me. That mysterious adventure always requires a kind of solitude for my process to unfold. But because I’m in deep conversation with the stories that characters are revealing to me—I feel alone but not isolated during that process. So the nature of my work hasn’t changed. What’s been challenging is that for all of the solitude and alone time (pre-pandemic), eventually I would open the door and walk out into the world and once again embrace the intensely collaborative work that marks the theater as a unique artform. Since March 2020 the “world” available to me has all been in “rooms” on Zoom with humans in boxes reflecting back at me from my laptop screen. And while I have been grateful every single day for whatever technology has allowed any sense of community, these many months have been marked by a sense of isolation—which is very different from that sense of aloneness that I know as a writer.  
 
Most rewarding experience of the IRT season? 
For me, it would have to be our production of my play THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. Even though I couldn’t be there in person, I was at many rehearsals as well as the tech process via Zoom and YouTube. And while it wasn’t my favorite way to interact with my work and with collaborators, it was something and I was grateful. Another thing that was rewarding about it (and surprising) was that I realized I have spent most of these months during the pandemic working with lots and lots of people I’ve never met in person. The majority of the digital projects I’ve been doing (and I’ve done dozens) have been with collaborators who were new to me. I wonder if I will ever meet any of those artists in person? With THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT I knew almost everyone involved and had history with them—and that brought a kind of calm I haven’t felt for many months. Plus for me it’s always joyful to have a play at the IRT and to share my work with the IRT audience. The difference this time, of course, is that I won’t ever be in the room with the audience when they watch JACK via streaming on demand. I will miss that in-person interaction with audiences.
 
Outside of work, how have you personally maintained your creativity and/or found inspiration in this last year?
Again, from my perspective, being creative and/or inspired isn’t an option. As a writer I usually can’t wait for inspiration to strike—I am cultivating that inspiration 24/7, always at the ready when it happens but spending more time simply doing the moment-to-moment work required by an artist committed to my craft. In some ways it has felt like I’ve been writing to save my life—and while that sounds like hyperbole, there’s truth to it! I’ve written until my fingertips nearly bled! Much of what I’ve written has been a total surprise to me, stories and characters demanded my attention that might not have otherwise. In addition to writing, I’ve done a lot of mentoring projects where I’ve worked with younger writers and directors around the country. I celebrated receiving the Indiana Authors Award for my trilogy THE JACK PLAYS. I welcomed the other prizes and workshops and festivals that my plays have been part of over these months. I’ve listened to lots of podcasts on my daily walks in my beautiful neighborhood in Los Angeles. I’ve watched hundreds of streamed digital theater content. I’ve cooked delicious dinners. And I’ve turned to my meditation and yoga practice to keep me from total despair. One of my yoga teachers used to offer a mantra that has come in handy during these many months. Whenever we were holding a long, challenging pose she would encourage us to “stay interested”. I’ve taken that to heart and through the ups and downs of the pandemic I’ve told myself again and again: stay interested. And so I have. And so I am. 

Indiana Repertory Theatre’s virtual season closes with a feast of feelings
The 2020-2021 season ends with James Still’s award-winning drama of home, loss
 
Indianapolis, Ind.—To close its virtual season, the Indiana Repertory Theatre rebuilds The House That Jack Built, which premiered at the IRT in 2012. Written by Playwright-in-Residence James Still and directed by Janet Allen, this play is part of Still’s award-winning trilogy The Jack Plays, which won the 2020 Indiana Authors Award in Drama. Featuring several local favorite actors, including Jan Lucas, Jennifer Johansen, and Constance Macy, the show will stream May 27 – June 20, 2021.
 
“The House That Jack Built is about life and death, new love and old love, faith and mystery, politics and fatalism, grief and optimism, time, time, time...It’s about lives lived and being lived, and about the wonderful and awful ways that relationships evolve and change,” Playwright James Still said.
 
The story, the first in the trilogy, takes place over Thanksgiving in 2012 as loved ones gather to share in the holiday, memories, and conversation, reminding audiences that we must accept the past before we can embrace the present.
 
“All three of the plays in The Jack Plays trilogy ask the same question: How does our deep yearning for home impact our lives? What does it mean to create a home, to leave one’s home of origin, to run away from home, to miss one’s home, to return home from exile? In this COVID year, we have deeply engaged in explorations of what home means,” Director and IRT’s Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director Janet Allen said.
 
Joining the talented trio of local actors will be Aaron Kirby and David Shih. Kirby has been in several IRT productions over the years, including A Christmas Carol, 2019’s You Can’t Take It With You, and 2020’s Murder on the Orient Express.  Shih returns to the IRT after he was slated to make his IRT debut in last season’s much-anticipated The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin, which was cancelled due to the pandemic.
 
In support of the production, the Indiana Authors Award, and James Still’s more than 20 years as IRT’s Playwright-in-Residence, the Theatre will host a free, virtual celebration on June 10, 2021. The event will feature actors sharing excerpts from Miranda and Appoggiatura, the two other plays in the trilogy, as well as an in-depth and thoughtful conversation between long-time collaborators James Still and Janet Allen.
 
Virtual tickets for The House That Jack Built are now available for $30 and streaming begins May 27. To learn more about the entire season and purchase virtual tickets, please visit irtlive.com.


DETAILS

WHERE: Streaming online via irtlive.com.

RUN DATES:  Streaming May 27 – June 20, 2021. The House That Jack Built  is approximately 1 hour and 35 minutes, with no intermission. Tickets and information at irtlive.com.  

TICKETS: Virtual tickets start at $30. Click to buy.
 
CAST & CREATIVE TEAM:

JENNIFER JOHANSEN | Jules
AARON KIRBY | Eli
JAN LUCAS | Helen
CONSTANCE MACY | Lulu
DAVID SHIH | Ridge
 
JANET ALLEN | Director
RUSSELL METHENY | Scenic Designer
YAO CHEN | Costume Designer
BETSY COOPRIDER-BERNSTEIN | Lighting Designer
TODD MACK REISCHMAN | Sound Designer
FABIAN OBISPO | Original Music
RICHARD J ROBERTS | Dramaturg
NATHAN GARRISON | Production Coordinator
REBECCA ROEBER | Production Assistant
 
SPECIAL EVENTS:


COMMUNITY CONVERSATION SPONSORED BY FAEGRE DRINKER: The Jack Plays, a celebration and conversation in honor of James Still’s trilogy
Thursday, June 10, 2021 | Event at 6 PM | Zoom Room
Please join the IRT for a virtual event celebrating James Still’s The Jack Plays. IRT’s current production of The House That Jack Built is part of Still’s trilogy The Jack Plays, the recipient of the 2020 Indiana Authors Award in Drama. The event will feature actors sharing excerpts from Miranda and Appoggiatura, the two other plays in the trilogy. IRT’s Playwright-in-Residence James Still and Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director Janet Allen will engage in a conversation about James’ work over the last 23 years.

To attend this free community conversation, please sign up here. This program will also be shared live on IRT’s Facebook page.
 
 
For more information contact Kerry Barmann, Marketing Communications Manager, at kbarmann@irtlive.com or 317.916.4824.
 
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ABOUT THE IRT
Founded in 1971, the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) is the largest professional not-for-profit theatre in the state and one of the leading regional theatres in the country. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community.