After I retired but before I began studying literature and journalism, I began reading the plays of Eugene O’Neill then William Shakespeare. I acquired a taste for live theater. Of course, the best way to experience theater is not to read it but to see and hear it.
One of my favorite intimate theaters is in the harbor community of San Pedro in Los Angeles, the Little Fish Theatre, an intimate theater that features mostly contemporary plays and whose parent organization is Shakespeare by the Sea, which is an outdoor traveling venue during the summer months in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
For the foreseeable future, because of the coronavirus, LFT is closed. Now, I have some good news.
I received a press release from LFT announcing, on Wednesday, April 15, “A slate of live stream readings (and) an original web series… are now on Little Fish Theatre’s Virtual Stage website.”
The press release said, “(The) original web series (was) created and directed by Kathryn Farren – A six-part comedy series starring all LFT Company (m)embers. A small troupe of actors now out of work find new ways to make art in the time of Coronavirus. Episodes 1 and 2 have been released on the LFT Virtual Stage, with subsequent episodes published regularly.”
“3 Couples / 3 Short Plays (& a Teaser!) – Written and directed by LFT Company Member Kathryn Farren and performed by real-life couples and LFT Company Members, these short plays examine life, love, and how things don’t always go as expected. An added bonus teaser of an original full-length play will also be performed. YouTube Live Sunday, April 19 at 4:00pm (sic).”
“’Days of Possibilities’ by Rich Orloff – Based on letters and interviews with students who attended Oberlin College during the 1960s, this (Zoom-adapted) play charts the journey of one college’s response to the Vietnam War. Performed on the 50th anniversary of the Kent State shootings, this piece reminds us of the strength and courage of students during that time of crisis. Directed by LFT Company member Holly Baker-Kreiswirth, and featuring LFT Company members. YouTube Live Monday, May 4 at 6:00pm (sic).”
The press release also announced the performance of “Home Fires Burning” by Syrie James, the USA TODAY bestselling author of thirteen critically acclaimed novels… (on) Saturday, May 23 at 4:00 p.m.; a live reading in June of a “M*A*S*H*” by its author, playwright and television writer, who has donated the television script to LFT with LFT Company members recreating the characters; and student written plays and more.
The Virtual Stage can be found at https://www.littlefishtheatre.org/pond/virtual/. The Live Streams are accessible via RSVP Links. To donate to support the artists at LFT, go to https://www.littlefishtheatre.org/pond/actor-fund/.
Barry Saks 
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