925.890.8877 • b8@b8theatre.org

Dear Friends of B8 Theatre Company,

I hope this letter finds you safe and well stocked at home. I have been remiss in reaching out to you as in this trying and most surreal time, discussing the future of live theatre did not feel essential in the grand scheme of things. But as we look forward we must make decisions about the future of B8 Theatre Company I am reminded that the arts are essential to our wellbeing and we must plan for our new normal including live theatre accessible to all.

First, I want you to know that B8 Theatre Company has every intention of returning once our Governor, Gavin Newsom deems it safe for all. As you know we are a small, intimate theatre so there will never be gatherings of more than 50 even when things return but we when that happens we will expand our cleaning and disinfecting protocol to keep all patrons and participants safe and healthy. Sadly, I think I will have given up the handshake and possibly the hug, and will be bowing, nodding or sharing the namaste greeting to all who enter.

As I write, I realize this was to be opening night for Waiting for Lefty. We will produce this play, but we do not yet know when. In addition, we will not be producing Much Ado About Nothing until summer of 2021. We have fabulous actors already cast in these productions and I think you will be thrilled when you finally get to see them.

My heart breaks to see the theatre dark for so long, and yet I know it is for the best. Together we must be apart for the greater good. We will be renegotiating our lease and we are still working with the city for our permanent use permit, but with patience and persistence and the support of people like you we will succeed.  I wish I could give you our return date, but it is at this time, still unknown.  In the meantime, we will try our hand at reading plays on Zoom for your listening / viewing pleasure – these will be free of charge although donations are always accepted.

In closing I want to share with you a Tennessee Williams quote:
                   “The world is violent and mercurial—it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love

                     – love for each other and the love we pour into the art we feel compelled to share:

                     being a parent, being a writer, being a painter, being a friend. We live in a perpetually

                     burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.”

Thank you for your continued support of quality live theatre in Concord in person and soon online to the best of our abilities. I hope to see your faces on Zoom and I can’t wait until we can greet one another in person again.

As always, I welcome your ideas for our future or responses to what we give you via zoom.  Please email me at janlee@b8theatre.org.  Stay safe and healthy.

With gratitude and hope,

JanLee Marshall, Artistic Director
B8 Theatre Company​​

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