Stageworks Theatre has remained dark for months now, but it has managed to keep the lights on for the staff and patrons.
Tampa’s longest-running professional theater, Stageworks has been conducting online programs on the arts and healing and is working on creating two outdoor cabarets to perform in a public space soon. The theatre, located at 1120 E. Kennedy Blvd, also has a four-show lineup scheduled to begin in February.
“In the meantime, we have been doing digital programming,” said Producing Artistic Director Karla Hartley. “We have several regular digital hits that we do. On Wednesdays, we have a wellness program focusing on mental health. It can vary from something like ‘here’s some fun yoga stuff to do to keep calm,’ articles about arts and healing, or the importance of artistic expression in mental wellness.
“We are partnering with the University of Florida on arts and healing resources and we have a psychologist, Dr. Carlos Garcia, who sends us information we can link to, to make sure that in the midst of the isolation and fear there are ways both physically and artistically to curb some rougher impulses.”
The worst part of the pandemic-fueled shutdown has been a sense of the unknown and an inability to plan, Hartley said, which is true for many in the live theater industry.
“Once we had to shut down in March and were not able to fulfill the last three shows, we really had to take a look at ourselves on how we could be more adaptive and serve the community in new and different ways,” she shared. “Stageworks has been working with actor Chris Jackson’s Largo Cineview Studios to do some live streaming and create digital content.”
