COVID-19 Play: “Hunker Down”
Sept. 21, 2020
A live theatrical event is set to take place on zoom. The play is titled, “Hunker Down,” and it deals with displaced older adults coping with the pandemic. We spoke with actress Janet Rees, who will be performing in the play alongside veteran actor Ed Asner.
The difficulties of pulling off a play through zoom is just as hard as it sounds. Rees says that although the process is a lot different from normal theater, this has proven to be a nice challenge.
“I kind of like that challenge, and the fun thing is of course you don’t have to be in the same place to be able to perform together. Ed Asner is in California, and I’m here, so we can do that. Of course the really wonderful thing is that people from all over can see the event, because you don’t have to drive.”
One of the difficulties about doing theater online, is the lack of audience response, especially for a comedy. It’s difficult sensing if the audience found the joke funny if you can’t hear laughs. The play is written by a playwright in New Mexico, about the challenges of ageism and the pandemic.
“This is about two older people, and they are trying to make it through the pandemic. So she goes over to his house masked and everything, assuming maybe he’ll let her in, and he refuses.”
All of this actually benefits ageism. Rees says that creative ageism is being involved in the arts because it’s proven to increase life expectancy.
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