Actors Brendan Powers and Rachel Burttram Powers were unsure what to do.

They were just one day away from playing A Dolls House, part 2. Then the Florida rep canceled it with the rest of the Fort Myers theater season due to coronavirus.

Suddenly, the married couple found themselves at home instead of performing for a packed house.

And it seemed to me weird.

We have come this far in the process, so your intuitive self thinks you are going to continue, see what I mean? Said Brendan. It was really a strange feeling. We were a little agitated.

So they decided to do something. Instead, they started playing online.

No scene? No problem. They installed one in their closet.

No audience? They found one on Facebook Live.

No games? They asked their playwright friends to send scenes, monologues and short plays.

More news on the theater: Mann Hall suspends all shows until May 1, including Waitress, Come From Away

Small theater debuted on March 21 with scenes from the romantic comedy Audrey Cefalys Maytag Virgin. They followed this up with a triplet: Mark St. Germain drama Dancing Lessons. And more works to come, including poetry written by a friend’s sixth-grade class teacher in Brazil.

Brendan and Rachel say it’s a way to stay sane while socializing during the coronavirus outbreak and also to distract people from their problems for 20-30 minutes at a time.

I’m a little funk if I’m not working on a project, says Rachel. An artist must create! If not, what is our purpose with a capital P, you know?

Then there is the added benefit of connecting online with friends and theatrical friends.

Not only is it fun for us, just to give us something to do and to keep in touch with a lot of our people in the arts community, says Brendan. But the responses we have received from people are very touching.

Weve had people sending out notes saying it was the best part of my day today. Thank you so much. It’s just really very powerful, the kind of response we got.

Their live Facebook feed has garnered thousands of views and hundreds of rave reviews.

How exciting, wrote LaTasha Armstead of Iona. Well done.

Kathy Gray of Fort Myers agreed. You two are fabulous for doing this !! That’s exciting!

Tiny Theater offers three performances a week at 9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The live Facebook feed becomes active five minutes before show time (Rachel and Brendan joke that it is when the house opens “).

The intimate performances keep it simple: an IKEA curtain, an iPhone on a tripod, no costumes and Christmas lights for a visual touch. And no memorization: they work with scripts in hand.

The couple experimented with lighting until they found something that worked: a ring light that a friend placed at their front door. The little closet doesn’t have its own working light, says Brendan and laughs. It’s been on our to-do list for the past two years. “

And it’s not really a scene, they admit: maybe 4 feet wide by 4 feet deep. However, they manage with what they have and accept the challenge.

In addition, they also added another level of challenge. Just to keep it interesting, we don’t want to repeat too much, says Rachel. Something about spontaneity, it’s so charming I hope!

Tiny Theater reduces performance to its essentials, she says. No music. No special effects or decor. No costumes.

We were like, what does it take to make a theater? Said Rachel. It takes text, it takes actors, and it takes an audience when you’re really depressed.

Rachel and Brendan say they like the positive response they have received so far from both the audience and the playwrights who have allowed them to do their work for free.

It was amazing how many people flooded our boxes saying: Oh my God, yes, it’s so crazy! Let’s do it! Said Rachel. It was such a bizarre thing that sort of developed, you know, out of necessity, really: what are we going to do with ourselves?

Now they both have something to look forward to, three nights a week. And although their performances in Florida have been canceled, the show must go to the Powers house.

We love live performances, of course, says Rachel. The interface with the audience is really out of place, I think.

So how do you do this in isolation? Well, the beauty of the Internet and Facebook Live.

To watch Tiny Theater, type Tiny_Theatre on Facebook or go to facebook.com/ClosetAtRachelAndBrendans

Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells (Facebook), @ charlesrunnells (Twitter), @ crunnells1 (Instagram)

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