Bethesda’s Round House Theatre has elected to cancel the 2020 portion of its live theater schedule, the company announced on Tuesday.
“Governor Hogan’s Roadmap to Recovery outlines a phased process for reopening Maryland. As Round House falls into the final phase of that plan, it has become increasingly clear that we will be unable to launch our 2020-2021 Season this September as originally planned,” said Managing Director Ed Zakreski. Artistic Director Ryan Rillete added that “Our performance plans are continuing to evolve, and we will keep in touch regularly as we better understand our timeline for reopening.”
The Hogan plan would reopen businesses in Maryland under a three-phase timetable, with indoor entertainment venues like live theater opening in the last phase. The Roadmap contains no specific dates for businesses to reopen. Rather, it depends on the status of coronavirus infections in the state, as well as the availability of testing and other health-care measures.
In a plan amendment issued Wednesday, the Governor has allowed some indoor entertainment facilities, including casinos, to open on June 19 at 50% capacity, if permitted to do so by local authorities. Under the June 10 Executive Order, however, theaters (both live theater productions and movie theaters, except for drive-ins) remain closed.
Round House had scheduled Octavio Solis’ Quixote Nuevo and a production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, co-directed by the famed magician Teller and Aaron Posner, for the latter half of 2020.
The company will continue its online production of Homebound, an original series by Washington-area playwrights about quarantine in the Nation’s Capital.
Another Maryland Theater company, Rapid Lemon Productions, has decided to take its scheduled August production of Variation on Visions online and charge no admission for it. “Last week we decided to proceed with the August show as planned, but we will perform it without audiences. Instead, we will stream it live from the theater venue,”said Rapid Lemon’s Max Garner. Garner said that the decision not to charge admission was possible because of “cosponsorship with our venue,” Motor House.
Rapid Lemon has also scheduled a production of Angelina Ward Grinké’s Rachel, beginning October 23. “We haven’t made any firm decisions yet about October,” Garner said.
Meanwhile, Theatre Prometheus, which occasionally produces in Maryland, announced that it has cancelled its planned production of Darcy Parker Bruce’s The Wolf You Feed, which had been scheduled for August 14-29 of this year. “We have moved all productions to 2021, and are still finalizing dates and venues,” Artistic Director Tracey Erbacher said.
