In their 2020/21 season, the UBC Players Club presented three virtual productions due to the COVID-19 pandemic that were live-streamed and presented with Zoom and social media. In response to systemic racism and police brutality, the UBC Players Club created a space for BIPOC artists’ voices in theatre with their presentation of No. 6 by T.J. Young, casting Black actors in Black roles and ensuring a Black artist directed the show. The play depicted the Anderson family during the Cincinnati riots of 2001. They also presented a one-act version of Little Women by Marisha Chamberlain in radio theatre format during the second lockdown. Lastly, the UBC Players Club held their 11th annual Festival Dionysia virtually, featuring works from artists all over the world.
March 26-28, 2021 – Festival Dionysia 2021
Festival Dionysia was an annual event organized by the UBC Players Club, showcasing mostly original one-act plays. It was typically written, directed, performed, and produced by UBC Vancouver students and emerging theatre artists from the local Vancouver area. However, for the 11th annual Festival Dionysia, the festival was entirely virtual, online, and socially distanced. This provided a unique opportunity to feature the perspectives and talents of artists from all over the world, as we all witnessed the enchantment of COVID-19 theatre.
View the program: ubcplayersclub.com/dionysia21.pdf
November 27-29, 2020 – Little Women by Marisha Chamberlain
Radio theatre was brought back during the second lockdown as a perfect way to spend the quarantine. People could curl up with a blanket and a warm drink in the safety of their own homes and listen to the Radio Theatre Project production of the one-act version of Little Women by Marisha Chamberlain.
The story revolved around the four young March sisters, Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy, who were under the guidance of their beloved mother. They struggled to keep their family going while their father was away in the Civil War. The beautifully dramatized adaptation of the classic novel showed how each girl strove to find her true self despite privation, illness, and sibling rivalry.
September 7, 2020 – No. 6 by T.J. Young
The UBC Players Club took action in response to the unjust killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, and Ahmaud Arbery, as well as ongoing racism, police brutality, and systemic violence towards Black individuals. The club donated to and shared resources for the Black Lives Matter movement but felt more needed to be done. They created a space for BIPOC artists’ voices in the theatre, a medium typically dominated by white voices. The club reached out to BIPOC artists in the Vancouver area and beyond to play characters in a presentation of No. 6 by T.J. Young and ensured Black roles were played by Black actors. The three roles not calling for Black actors were cast accordingly, and a Black artist facilitated and directed the show.The club hopes this first step will create a supportive creative space for BIPOC artists and encourage deeper thinking about the effects of systemic racism on all lives. They remind readers that Black Lives Matter and provide anti-racism resources, petitions to sign, and places to donate. Additionally, No. 6 depicts the Anderson family during the Cincinnati riots of 2001, revealing the truth Kelly has been keeping, why Felix and Felicia haven’t left home, and Felicia’s theory on the cause of extinction number six.
