SAUGUS — The Theatre Company of Saugus will be one of the first organizations on the North Shore to hold a live performance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a showing of “Much Ado About Nothing” at Breakheart Reservation this June.
For many artists and actors whose lives were put on hold indefinitely by the pandemic, in-person performances are a sign that life may finally be going back to normal.
“Somebody asked me yesterday how it felt to be working again,” said the show’s director, Anna Lee Percuoco. “The word ‘magical’ just keeps coming to mind for me, because I’m always super eager, but this cast and their dedication and excitement is really a recipe for incredible work.”
During most years, the company puts on four shows with a two-week youth workshop over the summer. This past year, however, the pandemic forced the company to pivot its operational methods, and like many other organizations, the group experimented with hosting a few productions through the video chatting platform, Zoom.
Virtual performances simply weren’t as exhilarating as live shows, though, so earlier this spring the company made the risky decision to host its upcoming play outdoors.
“We sort of took a risk a couple months ago when we said, ‘well, maybe we could do it outdoors in June,’” said President Larry Segel. “Now it’s kind of turning out that things are opening up just in time, and almost everyone in the cast is vaccinated.”
Rehearsals began over Zoom, but as vaccinations became more readily available to the public, practice eventually transitioned to the parking lot of American Legion Post 210, where cast and crew have finally been able to interact with one another face-to-face.
Percuoco said the upcoming show — which is set in 1946 in a post-World War II United States — is meaningful to its cast and crew for a number of reasons.
“The very beginning of this play is three officers coming back from war … and trying to be people again after an incredible tragedy, which I think really hits home for the actors, and for me and for everyone,” she said. “Not to compare this to World War II, because it’s obviously different, but we have been and are going through something horrific and tragic, and this play is about finding yourself again, finding joy again, finding love again, finding hope again.
“It just feels like the perfect show for now.”
This isn’t the first time the company has held an outdoor performance.
In 2012, The Theatre Company of Saugus held a production of another Shakespeare play, “Romeo and Juliet,” also at Breakheart Reservation.
“It was a challenge because you have to take everything down at the end of every performance and put it in storage and then put it back up, which is something we’ll have to do this time, but it was a pleasant production,” Segel said. “It’s not a huge area, but it seems to be big enough. People were seated on the grass, and there were performances both during the day and in the evening, which is the same thing we’re going to be doing this time.”
The Theatre Company of Saugus’ production of “Much Ado About Nothing” will be held June 4, 5, 11 and 12 at 7 p.m., and June 6 and 13 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for youth and seniors. Tickets can be reserved online at TCSaugus.org.
“We’re learning how to interact with each other in person again,” Percuoco said, later adding: “Shakespeare never intended for his work to be this high art that’s only ever set in Elizabethan England. It’s supposed to be transcendent, and his stories are supposed to touch modern people. They were written for the common man.
“I think most artists would agree that we need to make it more current and tangible for people so they see it and say, ‘Shakespeare is for me.’ Because it is. You don’t need an advanced degree to enjoy a Shakespeare show, and you certainly won’t need one to see this show. It’s a joy to watch.”
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected].
