Syracuse Stage adjusts 2020-21 season, continues video demand format

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Syracuse Stage has adjusted its 2020-21 season to include new titles and shift to a video on-demand format.

The second half of the season will begin in February with “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” by Anna Deavere Smith, according to a press release. The production will be available for streaming on Syracuse Stage’s website from Feb. 3 to 14.

The theater is filming the play using green screen technology and is conducting rehearsals via Zoom.

Syracuse Stage made the switch to online programming due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in Onondaga County, said Robert Hupp, Syracuse Stage’s artistic director, in the release.

“We’re challenging our creative team and engaging dynamic guest artists from across the country, to innovate, to experiment and to explore ways of making entertaining, engaging experiences for Central New York,” Hupp said.

Following “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992,” Syracuse Stage will perform “Annapurna” by Sharr White, “I and You” by Lauren Gunderson and “‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys” by Athol Fugard. Specific dates for these productions have not been determined yet.

The theater company anticipates the Actor’s Equity Association’s COVID-19 rehearsal and performance guidelines – which stopped in-person rehearsals and performances in Onondaga County after November’s spike in COVID-19 cases – to last until cases consistently subside in the county.

But Hupp hopes “I and You” and “‘Master Harold’ … and the Boys,” the season’s final shows, will be able to be fully produced and filmed in a similar in-person fashion as Syracuse Stage’s production of “Talley’s Folly” in November. The two productions are scheduled for April and May.

Hupp also expects to produce “Our Town” and Kyle Bass’ “salt/city/blues” during the 2021-22 season.

“We’re learning from our previous efforts and we’re striving to use technology and available resources to tell dynamic stories that surprise, question, confront, delight and entertain our audience,” Hupp said. “And, we’re looking for plays that are uniquely suited to our time and our situation right now.”