WESA-FM: Assorted stories from WESA-FM : NPR

These days, people can get everything by mail, from exercise equipment to meal kits. Why not theater? Plays-by-mail are a growing phenomena sparked by the coronavirus pandemic. In March 2020, performance spaces around the country went dark. Groups’ stock-in-trade of live, shared, in-person performances became all but impossible for the immediate future. Many troupes stayed active with Zoom-based play readings, barebones performances for webcam, and even – after distancing restrictions eased – fully produced film adaptations of stage works. All the approaches had their merits. But Pittsburgh-based company RealTime Interventions had other ideas. “Can it go beyond Zoom?” asked RealTime’s Molly Rice. “Can we do better, or can we do things that are more interesting than that?” RealTime’s answer is Post Theatrical, a festival of theater-by-mail. A dozen troupes from around the country are contributing works enabled, at least in part, by the U.S. Postal Service. While the first performances