SAY IT! On Stage (So Far)
Since SAY IT! On Stage participants came together for their first meeting in June of 2019, the group has continually found new ways to be creative and stay connected. Moving from live conversation circles, writing groups, rehearsals and performances, to congregating in Zoom rooms, and producing recorded theatre under pandemic restrictions, these talented individuals have found a way to keep themselves and audiences entertained.
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For the first project, Pelham seniors worked together with E.L. Crossley Secondary School students to devise an original stage play, Over to You. The hours of hard work and happy times that resulted in two nights of performances at the MCC are documented for you on this site, under the "Past Productions" tab.
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Then, in June 2020, after months of meeting weekly to read through vintage scripts, we set to work creating a podcast "radio" play. Rehearsing from a living document in a virtual venue had its challenges, but neither unstable internet connections nor endless electronic versions of a the monster draft that we wrote collectively could deter us. In December 2020, we released our pandemic podcast production, Unearthed. You'll find the link to listen to it on this website.
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Next up was an experiment in film production. We succeeded in devising characters, writing a feature length script, rehearsing and recording it; however, Millennium Mission to Mars did not quite come together the way we hoped. Still, you can see a sampling of it under its own tab on the website. The incredible commitment of all of the writers, actors, and production crew who tried to make it happen is truly something to be celebrated.
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In 2022, we were able to begin meeting in person again, and began work on a new stage play called Stories Found. Unlike Unearthed and Millennium Mission to Mars, this show took us back to the original purpose of SAY IT! On Stage: starting conversations and collaboration between seniors and youth, and using theatre to share real life stories from our communities. We know that you'll find Stories Found to be full of meaningful memories. The link to the YouTube video with closed captioning is on the Stories Found page on this website.
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Now we are starting into our next adventure, and it's going to be a carnival of conversations. Time travel will be involved, as our characters are transported backwards and forwards to have a chance to chat with themselves and others, in days gone by, or days yet to come. Whether as an audience member or as part of the production, we hope you'll join us as we conjure up a bit of magic on stage.
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