February 08 2021 A Long Distance Affair
Tracy Francis of Boom Arts and local actor Barbie Wu are involved in A Long Distance Affair, a Zoom immersive play as part of a series that started before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through 10-minute plays, held Feb. 11-21, the audience learns about people from around the world; the latest version features 18 artists from Portland, Beirut (Lebanon), Lagos (Nigeria), Mumbai (India), Los Angeles and Mexico City.
It s produced by Juggerknot Theatre Company ( Miami Motel Stories ) and PopUp Theatrics.
Francis directs the Beirut play, about a dance class and connection, and the Portland play, which fittingly is a sci-fi piece about protest and unrest and a woman stuck in a time loop (in which the old version kills the young version).
“What’s fascinating about the project is that it’s an interesting way to connect all these artists from all over the world,” producer Tanya Bravo tells
New Times. “But not only that we’re connecting audiences, too, and bringing together people from like China or Beirut watching the same performance at the same time as someone from Miami.”
Bravo says that for the second installment of
Long Distance Affair, the team wanted to spotlight cities that may often be overlooked. Whereas the first time we traveled to popular destinations like London and Paris, this time audiences will visit Mumbai, Beirut, Mexico City, and Lagos, as well as Los Angeles and Portland on the U.S. west coast.
The team brought together actors, directors, and playwrights from around the world to stage a memorable night of live theater with the first iteration of
Long Distance Affair. Audiences logged on to Zoom and were transported to cities like London, Madrid, Miami, Paris, and Singapore. Each performance featured an actor performing from their city no matter the time zone to an intimate audience.
Now they are ready to do it all over again with six new cities and six new teams of playwrights, actors, and directors.
“What’s fascinating about the project is that it’s an interesting way to connect all these artists from all over the world,” producer Tanya Bravo tells