Art at San Francisco Playhouse

San Francisco Playhouse is taking the theatre industry into formerly unknown territory after receiving approval from the Actors' Equity Association to film and stream their production of Art by Yasmina Reza on stage at San Francisco Playhouse. The announcement makes San Francisco Playhouse one of the first theatres in the United States to get approval for on-stage filming, and the first to offer a professional, staged, in-person production since the beginning of the pandemic. Art will debut on Saturday, OCTOBER 24th, 2020. The performance will be available to view on demand through NOV7th.

"We could not be happier to have passed all Actors Equity Association safety requirements and once again bring the thrill of live theatre to audiences, even if it took some extra creativity and hard work to achieve it," said director Bill English. "We feel we are providing a roadmap for other suffering theatre companies, and an exciting new era for the theatre community. After weeks of rehearsing over video chat, it is a thrill to be returning to our stage to bring this next phase of live theatre to our patrons."

The in-person filming took place this past week on stage at the Playhouse following a deep clean, installation of PPE stations, and other safety regulations that include having all personnel tested for COVID-19 and isolating until in-person work is complete.

Art was staged as a full-fledged production with professional costumes, set, lighting, sound, and properties design. The performance was filmed straight through with three Sony 4K AX100 cameras and a switching system to capture the live performance. Filming took place with full run-throughs for three days, after which the video took roughly 50 edits to replace specific problematic shots in the 90 minute long show, with an emphasis on maintaining the live, authentic performances.

Authors

• Yasmina Reza