With conVERGEnce, Verge Theater Company Imagines a More Equitable Theater Industry The online discussion series continues on March 15 Tweet
Lisa Troi Thomas, Daniel Jones and Beth Thielman
A play ends. The lights come on. Spectators gather their belongings. And then, a crew member brings several chairs onstage, and the actors and director come walking out.
Shit, you think.
Can I get out of here without anyone noticing?
You’ve just entered a talkback the post-play discussion that you never asked for, but nonetheless keeps happening.
Tessa Bryant has worked on multiple programming teams and has orchestrated many such after-show discussions. “Talkbacks are almost universally terrible,” Bryant says. She doesn’t blame the programmers, the actors or the play. “The format doesn’t give people much, and I think it’s because we weren’t able to focus on those topics.”
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Pete Meenen and the Tennesseans We Lost to COVID-19
The state’s first resident claimed by a virus that went on to kill many more
On March 21, the Brentwood Family YMCA shared the news that Pete Meenen, a greeter at the gym and community center for more than 20 years, had died. He was the first person in Tennessee to die from COVID-19.
“Perhaps few faces in a YMCA are as recognizable as the greeter who meets the morning faithful, the early risers who start their day with us when the Welcome Center is a little quieter than usual,” the Brentwood Y’s operations executive, Roger D. Grove, wrote on Facebook. “For more than 20 years, Pete was that face in our YMCA, and his loss will be deeply felt by all of us, our staff and our members.”