theatre on the block

“Love in Times of Plague” by Nicholas Walker Herbert

A COVID-Safe Live Show

Performances Friday, Saturday, Sunday evenings, May 7-June 20

Locations are a SURPRISE--let’s keep audiences small and risks low.

Did you get a door hanger? Keep scrolling!

bctc brings back live performance, safely!

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Theater on the Block is inspired by the staging of medieval cycle plays and the comic acting style of commedia dell’arte to bring the people of Yolo County a series of modern comic vignettes on the travails of our pandemic life. Using our cargo van, 2 actors, some props and some costumes, BCTC brings live theater--and a little music--to your neighborhood all while practicing safe social distancing.

It’s FREE! (Though, we won’t turn down a donation!)
30 minutes of comedy for all ages!
Cast and crew are masked.
BCTC marks out and enforces distanced seating areas (assigned by household) to ensure physical safety and ideal viewing.
Masks are required when coming and going from safe seating zones.
Performances are staged so Company and Audience are safely distanced from one another at all times.
BYOB & Behave!

The show is free to the public from the support of the City of Davis Arts and Culture Fund and Healthy Davis Together.

I’M SORRY, DID YOU SAY MEDIEVAL PLAYS? COMMEDIA DEL WHAT NOW?

When the global pandemic was newer, live theater’s solution was to move online. Filmed performances flooded subscriber inboxes, while artists embraced the possibilities of digital media. But for Bike City Theatre, it’s missing something. Because…

Theater is communal.

Theater is imaginative.

Theater is live.

So we’re going back to our roots.

(Like, really far back.)

Theater has been mobile from the time of Ancient Greece.

Sitting close to a bunch of people in a dark room?

That's sooo 1800s.

BCTC is using all of our skills as a pop-up company to bring our neighbors a brand new play that grabs you, and invites you to come together, with your community, while staying safe.

And we’re doing it through Davis’ cul-de-sacs.

Weekends between May 7 and June 20, our crew will arrive at cul-de-sacs (and some dead ends!) throughout Davis to set up and perform Nicholas Walker Herbert’s Love in Times of Plague. The only folks who know where we’ll be are those who live in the cul-de-sac, having been alerted by our crack team of door-hanger distributors in the days prior. The show will be presented in 2 local cul-de-sacs per performance night. BUT, we’re relying on you to help keep us all safe: keep it quiet if you know TOTB is coming to you!

KEEP QUIET? DON’T YOU WANT AN AUDIENCE?

Yeah, but for this show, we want to bring people together safely. That means, keeping the audiences limited to folks in the cul-de-sac! If your in-laws are there for dinner, they’re part of your seating group, as part of your family pod. But if your 40 BFFs roll out of your house...that’s going to be complicated. And way riskier for our actors and production team.

HOW DO YOU STAY SAFE? AND KEEP US SAFE?

Distanced audience seating by household

Mask requirements: Production company masked during set-up and transport, audience masked during seating process.
Hand sanitizing stations
Staging that social distances to protect actors and audience

WAIT--WILL IT BE LOUD AND USE LASERS AND LIGHTS AND...

It’s completely acoustic--no lights, no cables, no speakers louder than a car radio.

YOU PEOPLE ARE BLOCKING MY STREET?

No more than a pick-up basketball game or street hockey. No big scenery=easy to yell “car!” and re-set.

I DON’T WANT TO PARTICIPATE AND/OR I DON’T WANT TO GO OUTSIDE

Not an issue! You do you. Guaranteed amusement if you’re watching from behind your windows or on the street with us. And did we mention it’s short? Just 30 minutes of show and the Company rolls on.

HOW DO YOU KEEP PEOPLE APART

Chalk. LOTS of chalk lines. And the practice we’ve all had after a year of quarantine.