Small Stage August in the Age of COVID

Theatre continues to develop in and around Milwaukee in the Age of COVID. July is winding down and giving way to an August which shows some promise in and around the edges of local Milwaukee-area outposts on the internet. 

Jonathan Gillard Daly as Romeo

Flora Coker as Juliet

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Wednesday Milwaukee Chamber Theater stages a live staged reading of a moern verse translation of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. The staged reading online allows certain traditions to be casually brushed aside...most notably that of the ages of the leads. The two lead roles feature easoned professionals well-known to the Milwaukee theatre scene. Jonathan Gillard Daly  plays Romeo to Flora Coker’s Juliet. It’s a rare opportunity to hear a couple of actors with decades of stage experience casting light into young love.

The staged reading of Hansol Jung’s translation of Romeo & Juliet is directed by Marcella Kearns. The reading takes place on Facebook and YouTube at 7pm on July 29th. For more information, visit Milwaukee Chamber online.
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Director/Editor Lyric Simonson

Waukesha’s Fleeing Artists Theatre will be presenting Shakespeare this month as well. The group presents a video presentation of The Winter’s Tale directed and edited by Lyric Simonson. The show runs July 31 - August 2. The show is being presented both via Zoom and Facebook. For more information, visit Fleeing Artists online.
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Allison Jornlin

​A few years before he published Psycho, horror writer Robert Bloch lived in Milwaukee. As it turns out, he also lived on Brady Street. Late next week, Allison Jornlin’s American Ghost Walks-Milwaukee takes attendees through a tour of haunted Brady Street. A ghost tour is its own kind of live theatrical experience that should be all the more spooky with attendees in masks following a trail of ghost stories. It’s not theatre, but it IS live storytelling. And if it’s going to feature a socially distance audience in face masks it might be the only way it could possibly be responsible while COVID continues to take its toll on Milwaukee.

The Saints and Sinners of Brady Street takes place on August 8th at 7:30 pm. For more information visit the American Ghost Walks online.

Jessica Kennedy

Josh Scheibe

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​Local playwright/actor Deanna Strasse has a play. She’s going to be hosting a staged reading of the play live and online complete with talkback. So it’s just like a regular small stage show...only it’s available wherever you have a glowing rectangle that connects to the internet. Jessica Kennedy and Josh Scheibe play Jo and Gerry: a couple who have been married for six months. Things aren’t perfect between the two of them. Things quickly come to light in Strasse’s comedy Lovers and the Like. The virtual staged reading has two performances: August 14th at 7:30 pm and August 15th at 7:30 pm. For more information, visit the reading’s Facebook page.