Then & Now: Pandemic Life Stories

Back in the spring 2020, as the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic went from something happening ‘’over there” somewhere; to something fearfully immediate and visceral in our lives, at Delta Stageworks we started thinking about creating a storytelling theatre piece around these lived experiences in our local community. We figured that sometime down the road we might all want to reflect back on some of the monumental impacts to our lives the pandemic has wrought. 

Taking inspiration from devised theatre practices, in the fall of 2020 we invited Cory Haas, artistic director at no comment. th(é)âtre in Vancouver, to facilitate a series of exploratory workshops about living through these surreal times. Together with the rest of the artist associate team, we invited members of the community to join us in documenting and creatively processing what’s been happening around us.

We’ve worked on Zoom together and in-person under professional theatre safety protocols. We’ve interviewed neighbours, colleagues, front-line workers, family members, business owners and essential workers among others; gathering their stories in oral and video form. We’ve created visual and written texts; adapting news stories and personal anecdotes.

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