The Theater Arts department at Las Positas College is returning to pre-pandemic conditions this fall semester, while it introduced its newest production, “Peter and the Starcatcher.” For the first time since March 2020, under safe conditions, there will be a live in-person audience attending the shows indoors.
The fall 2021 production is a theatrical production based on the best-selling novel of Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, “Peter and the Starcatcher.”
The story revolves around a young boy, who becomes Peter Pan, and his mates who, while being shipped off to a distant island, meets a Starcatcher who knows about the treasure onboard. Starstuff, a celestial substance that’s so powerful that it mustn’t fall into the wrong hands. The ship is eventually taken over by pirates who are determined to claim it and it all becomes a thrilling adventure.
Titian Lish is the department coordinator for the Theater program at Las Positas. Lish is also the performing arts coordinator and Chair for the college Resource Allocation Committee.
It’s pleasant to see the program thrive in recent times after its struggles over the pandemic. The performing arts didn’t hold up well when the COVID-19 pandemic happened. “This is not unique to local communities or even the Bay Area,” Lish says.
The impact of the pandemic also altered the “repercussions to who stays in the field, which companies remained in operation, etc.”
“A struggle we encountered for “Peter and the Starcatcher” was the important necessity to wear masks during rehearsals for safety,” Lish says. “Actors and directors rely heavily on the ability to navigate expressive nuance in faces and voices. We have been working with actors to embody the characters in their gestures and staging…but it continues to be a struggle.”
“Our program has seen a large decline in enrollment, but the students that have stuck it out have grown and developed in remarkable ways,” Lish says. “We are very proud to be able to work with them.”
“I felt like it was extremely difficult when things were online,” Marissa Ferreira says. “Now that things are slowly transitioning back, I think we are all ecstatic about it.”
Marissa Ferreira was a cast member from the Theater Arts’ “Peter and the Starcatcher,” who played the role of Molly Aster. She joined LPC’s Theater Arts program in the middle of the pandemic.
Las Positas Theater faculty and cast are pleased to have a live audience for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To hear and see people sharing collaborative experience in the theater again is heartwarming,” Titian Lish says. “We are really thankful to have our audiences coming back to enjoy the show with us.”
While the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District’s vaccination requirement for on-campus instruction and activities will be in full effect starting in the spring, Theater Arts have already mandated it. In order to perform in their productions, which involve close contact, the cast had to be mandated for safety.
“Theater operates in tight and personal spaces,” Lish says. “There is just no way to avoid that, unless you are directing shows with extremely small cast sizes.”
Gibran Beydoun is a writer for The Express. Follow Him @Gibran580MSCM
