Not even a worldwide pandemic can stop theater
people from doing their thing, as demonstrated by such events as Harlequin
Productions’ ongoing radio web series of theatrical shows and Pug Bujeaud’s
Zoom performance of her drama The Culling. And now comes The
Driftwood Bridge - An Offering of Story and Song by David Mielke and his
husband Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma.
This cabaret-style musical can now be seen free
of charge online.
The show started as something the couple wrote
and performed for their wedding guests in 2018 at Open Space for Arts and
Community on Vashon Island. It quickly evolved into a full professional
theatrical production that was staged in November of 2019 in the Kay White Hall
at the Vashon Center for the Arts. At the time it was called Gaybaret.
It was scheduled for a five week-run in Seattle
at the 12th Avenue Arts Studio Theater but had to be rescheduled because of the
pandemic.
“Due to
heartfelt requests from previous audience members who want to share the
show with their
friends, we've decided to make The Driftwood Bridge available to theatre
audiences free on-demand online by streaming the production we filmed in
November,” Mielke says. “Since it touches on themes that have become even more
relevant in these challenging times, we wanted to make it available in people’s
homes.”
Mielke
explains: “The Driftwood Bridge is a two-person theatrical and musical
memoir about taking experiences that wash up on the existential beaches of our
lives and using them to build a bridge to carry us forward. The show explores
life after loss, intergenerational forgiveness, and the ways mentors and
friends help us feel ready to say yes to love—gay, straight, or otherwise.”
With
Pruiksma on piano, each performer alternately tells their own story and sings
songs—about letting go of old shame, learning to trust, and acknowledging the
mystery of life. As with many rituals honoring what is known but unseen, the
show bows to the joyful play of what seems to be serendipity.
“There’s
a thread running through the show about openness to wonder, to the poetry of
lived life,” Pruiksma says. “Our experiences may appear to be chaotic and
random, but often there is some more mysterious pattern we can see or help to
create that leads to unexpected gifts.”
The show continues
until December 31, on driftwoodbridge.com, where Mielke and Pruiksma are
also showcasing another Covid-coping endeavor, a video series they've produced
called Broadway in the Yurt, recently featured in the "Modern
Love" column of the New York Times.
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