Masters Mainstage spring play this year is an adaptation of Homer's epic tale of one man's journey home.

Every production contains two stories: the story being told in the play, and the story of how the production came together. Typically that second, secret story remains important only to the participants. But it's almost impossible to watch this digital production without imagining the group of 40 teenagers and a handful of mad-brained adults clawing our way through 21st century technology to follow the ancient impulse to tell a story. While editing, I left in a few such moments--you'll see the tell-tale lean to turn off the camera, the slump of relaxation after a line is delivered, the jitters before filming a dance. In a lengthy life in theatre, I could never have imagined creating a show with a cast who have never all shared the same physical space. But this is Now, and here we are, doing this.
This was no easy task. Closets transformed into remote recording studios, parents, siblings, and friends became camera operators and location scouts. Hundreds of audio and video files zipped instantly across the state, country and globe. We tried quixotically to cram 2 hours of rehearsal material into a 55 minute time slot. We did our best to remain perfectly physically distant and sometimes failed, because our hearts kept drawing us together like magnets.
Fittingly, this musical is about the struggle to remain present, aware, and awake to the possibilities of this world. It's a story for all of us struggling in the pandemic. It's our hope that the stories we are about to tell will offer you some laughter, comfort, connection, and joy.
Dedicated with love to the Masters community and our friends and family everywhere.

Kafka's Metamorphosis, by Steve Molds
The Theatre Production Ensemble leapt way out of our comfort zone to create this expressionistic piece of digital theatre. (it's not a film!) The story unfolds from the famous line: "One morning, Gregor Samsa awoke from unsettling dreams to find himself transformed into a colossal vermin." With performers on 4 continents and 3 US states, it strikes us that the cast have not all met each other in person, and the group has never shared a common space or time. It's no surprise that this story of alienation from family, work colleagues, and even one's own body was the story we wanted to tell.
Thank you for joining us.

This production is not our usual Fall Play.
What you are about to see is a documentation of our season-long exploration of mask work. Mask mixes physical theatre and character work, relying on the creativity, observation and experimentation of the artists involved to create a character and situations through discovery and play. In the most unconventional theatre season any of us have experienced, in times that were often overshadowed by sadness, it was a relief and a joyful release to create together. Over multiple long-form improvisations, students honed their characters and soon fragments of stories revealed themselves: office co-workers who eventually become friends, a group of school friends slowly drifting apart, a young woman dreaming of the best and worst possible futures with her sweetie pie, and a wacky corporation where a struggle for power breaks out. In the final segment, (written as a silent play by Lindsay Price) a station full of stuck people are confronted by a cheerful stranger who tries to get them to let go of their emotional baggage.

As an acting class assignment during the early remote weeks of school, we created this interactive web site; a murder mystery where the viewer plays the role of detective, listening to characters and clicking on clues to seek out the truth. We challenge you to grab your notebook and pencil, and see if your can figure out WHO KILLED FELIX FRANZ?