'The New Normal' set to stream from River Campus next month

Students in Southeast Missouri State University's Jeanine Larson Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre and Dance will perform in a new medium next month when "The New Normal: A Collection of Short Plays" streams from the River Campus.

"The New Normal" replaces "Metamorphoses" in the Top of the Marq and Commerce Bank Theatre and Dance Series, according to a news release. It will stream Nov. 5 through 15.

Seven, 9- to 12-minute plays will be recorded in Rust Flexible Theater on the River Campus, in a multicamera setup, the release stated.

The performances will ground audiences in the socially-distanced, masked COVID-19 reality of today, Kitt Lavoie, assistant professor of theater and director of "The New Normal," said in the release.

The plays focus on people grappling to keep the things they value most -- loved ones, financial stability and their dignity -- from disappearing from their lives.

The format of pre-filmed shows allows for smaller rehearsal sizes and fewer people waiting backstage, Lavoie said. He wanted to create an experience for audiences and student performers that worked creatively around COVID-19 rather than be limited by it.

Three-person plays where the actors are masked, and filming the performances, contribute to increased safety for audience and actors, Lavoie said in the release.

The plays are: "Anyway" by Jennifer Curfman; "Bank & Trust" by Lavoie; "Empty Handed" by Katelin Wilcox; "Dirty Birds" by Jenny Kirlin; "Stay" by Jenny Kirlin; "Super Lucas" by Jennifer Reichert, executive assistant in Southeast's provost office; and "Two Birds" by Jerzy Gwiazdowski.

In a moment when society is battling COVID-19, Lavoie said "The New Normal" speaks to how people navigate disagreements. People often take a man-versus-nature conflict and create a man-versus-man conflict, he said, "because that's the conflict we know how to have.

"We can't yell at the virus," he said.

Performances of "The New Normal" will stream at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 through 7 and 9 through 14, and at 2 p.m. Nov. 7 and 8 and 14 and 15. The production contains adult content.

Tickets: showtix4u.com/event-details/39651, River Campus Box Office in the Cultural Arts Center on Southeast's River Campus at 518 S. Fountain St. in Cape Girardeau, (573) 651-2265 or www.rivercampus.org

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