On Wednesday, June 2, the Phoenix Theatre Company begins its 102nd season — indoors and in person — with a production of “Becoming Dr. Ruth.” The one-woman show tells the
She’d performed the piece, which she adapted with director Matthew Wiener in 2014, twice before once for Arizona Theatre Company and later for Childsplay, where McFadzen is a longtime associate artist. For this production, she and Wiener trimmed the play down to 70 minutes. “You’re outside and it’s nighttime and it can get cold,” she pointed out. “You don’t want to ask people to sit there for a long time.”
McFadzen, who plays all of Charles Dickens’
Carol characters in the one-act, likes the strict COVID protocols the Herberger has in place. But it’s sad to live in a time when a theater staff has to disinfect audience seating after each show, when masking and social distancing are mandatory. “The closest audience member to me is 12 feet away,” she explained. “It seems like a lot farther.”