Remote Studios Partners With The Marsh To Launch Live Performance Reading Series

Remote Studios, a pioneering online performance group born near the beginning of the pandemic, announced today that they have entered a partnership with The Marsh, a leading Bay Area theatre with a rich history of developing new performance. Together they will launch a monthly web show of readings with the goal of exploring new paths for playwrights and screenwriters while testing the boundaries of live digital performance (what Remote calls "live cinema").

A new path to play/film development

Under the banner, Real Actors Working (RAW), the series launches on Saturday May 1st at 4PM Pacific (7PM Eastern) with a contemporary retelling of Donald Margulies' Obie- and Pulitzer-Award-winning dramedy Dinner With Friends, featuring renowned Bay Area acting veterans James Carpenter, Catherine Castellanos, L. Peter Callender, and Tanya Shaffer, hosted by Philippa Kelly, with music by Paul Dresher and light costuming by Cassandra Carpenter, directed by Remote Studios' Founder and Artistic Director Gio René Rodriguez. Remote will stream the May 1 event live on Zoom. The Marsh will stream a recorded version of the event on Marshstream, its popular digital channel, on May 4.

The goal of the series is to support the regional, national, and international theatre and film creative community - writers, actors, and directors - in gaining visibility for new and reimagined work, and to feed and replenish the production cycle as in-person theatre returns and live cinema continues to grow and evolve. Remote and The Marsh have each experimented with live streaming and are now intending to lift the emerging art form to fully realize its potential.

MarshStream launched in April 2020 and has received overwhelmingly enthusiastic response, garnering over 80,000 viewers over the past year. Notable MarshStream moments thus far include the debut of MarshStream International Solo Fest, The Marsh's first- ever digital festival, and the U.S. premiere of The Invisible Line, a new documentary about one of the world's most famous social experiments gone wrong. For more information, the public may visit www.themarsh.org/marshstream. NOTE: Most performance streams from earlier MarshStream dates are also available on the website for viewing.

"It's a great opportunity to continue our work in the play development ecosystem," said Rodriguez. "The Marsh is a beloved institution with deep roots, a breeding ground for great writers and performing artists. With its digital media channel, and access to established and emerging artists, we will be better poised to realize our vision."

"We couldn't be more thrilled to partner with Remote Studios as we continue to navigate through the new digital demands of the industry," said The Marsh Founder/Artistic Director Stephanie Weisman. "This partnership will expand our presentation possibilities, giving us a chance to explore new engagement technologies beyond Zoom."