No amount of stagecraft can control the weather.
Earlier this month, we were preparing to open the world premiere of Geoff Sobelle’s Clown Show at the PS21 Center for Contemporary Performance in Chatham, NY. We had shattered the venue's sales records, selling over 1,000 tickets for the opening weekend.
Then, during Thursday's open dress rehearsal, a severe, twister-like electrical storm blew through PS21’s open-air theater. A wall of water drenched the audience and the soundboard, instantly knocking out the power and forcing us to halt the performance and retreat to safety.
The grid remained dead until Saturday afternoon. Sadly, we were forced to cancel our official opening night on Friday. But a show like this is built to withstand chaos. Once power was restored at 1:00 PM on Saturday, the theater was packed for the final two performances.
I've uploaded some photos of the run to the archive.
We now head to the UK for the European Premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival this August.
- Steve