Happy Springtime! It’s beginning to feel like we have survived the longest Winter of our lives. Today is vaccination day in our household, our first jab. In a way, our first ray of light after many, many months of relative darkness. We sincerely hope you have managed to stay healthy, and that your daily life is sprinkled with little kindnesses, and healthy care for one another. Since our last Missive (see highlights below), we have seen both suffering and hope roll across our screens in waves, and experienced much of our own. This has been a very difficult time for us all. But now, as the first leaves grow to fullness on the oaks, the time has come for Red Barn Productions to reach out to our creative community and begin to look to the horizon.
Let us imagine our beloved Dickensian London appearing on the horizon like the welcome sight of land to weary sailors. There is good reason to hope that, in the not-too-distant future, we will be gathering again in merriment and song, with children’s laughter, the giddy anticipation of audiences, the smell of roasting sugar almonds, and the actual warm embrace of friends...tears of joy and relief, too. Will our feet remember how to dance? It is finally time to begin to dream of that day. At Red Barn Productions, the team is working every day toward such a moment, toward an opening day like no other in our history, when our London can safely re-open its gates after the passing of the plague.
Surviving a pandemic and rebuilding our presentations for the “new normal” will have its challenges. But this year has also been a time of clarification for us, and we are confident that the next Dickens Christmas Fair will be more loving, more joyous, and more appreciated than any in recent memory. It will also be more intentionally diverse, equitable, and inclusive. As always, we will use history to inform our creativity, but we will - more than ever - come together to show how we want life to be. Dickens built this into the DNA of his stories: a vision of a better world, more compassionate and more just than the old one. Our show, our Fair, and our London will be a reflection of our values, and our appreciation for each other, as much as it is a presentation of our aesthetic and our talents.
The past year’s difficulties also require changes to Red Barn’s operations. In order to control attendance numbers, for COVID safety and public comfort, we will no longer have a box office. The Will Call window will handle customer service needs at the gate, but tickets will be sold online only, in advance. This will allow Red Barn to fine tune for safe levels of ‘celebration’ in our streets.
For the same reason, our overall cast size will need to shrink along with audience size. This is no small task, and we are working on envisioning ways to preserve our community’s artistic well-being as well as its safety. To help us evaluate which shows and groups to include, we will be taking a step back, and asking every director who wishes to bring a new or returning show or group to our next in-person Dickens Fair to send in a written proposal. A standard proposal form will be sent out very soon to assist with this process. While this will change the number of performers cast, everyone who wants to enjoy workshops and complete the requirements will likely find a way to participate in the Fair.
The Living History Centre’s School of Dickensian Delights will soon be requesting proposals for new workshop classes. We are all students of living history, and this program is what gives us the opportunity to expand and refresh our characters, our talents, and our understanding of how to work together as an ensemble.
In the coming weeks, as we learn about the hopeful creation of our post-COVID new normal, we will keep you well informed of the changes affecting the Fair, and all of the ways we need to adapt to create a compassionate, safe, and joyous experience for everyone who takes part.
Stay careful and well, and thank you for your continued love for the magic of living history.
In merriment,
The happy, hopeful, hard-working elves of Red Barn Productions
