The Research-to-Performance Method (RPM) is a systematic process that organizes teams of artists, scholars and researchers in the scholarly and creative development of new theatrical performances. RPM teams engage in direct dialogue with the community throughout the developmental process from ideas to readings to workshops to mainstage productions that prioritize the creation of new knowledge through collaborative creativity.

Songs of a Caged Bird was first produced one year ago in the George Houston Bass Performance Space. While this second presentation was meant to include a more immersive set and technical elements to match the updated script, the COVID-19 crisis has dramatically interrupted our plans. Nevertheless, this presentation has stretched the limits of the RPM process and resulted in new knowledge about the essence of theatre and what it takes to tell engaging stories in a new, digital world.

Q. Did you make any specific edits for the script to fit the Zoom platform? What new considerations did the platform present?

Christopher Lindsay: Many edits were made to the script to fit the platform. This play was made to be performed in a live theater space. The creative team and I reimagined it for this hybrid space we now live in, and I think that is a good thing. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that there are moments I wish we could see in a live space, but, I'm happy where we have landed with this project.

Q. What do you hope audiences will get from viewing this work?

CL: I would like the audience to have a full human experience when seeing this work--laugh, cry, be angry, be confused--just feel something.

More importantly, I would like each audience member to consider the following:

• The parallel issues between 3 generations of African-Americans in their fight for justice & equality. Specifically, how many problems addressed in this play are still relevant today? What did we try before when addressing those issues, and did it work?

• The generational problems Black families encounter in their quest to be seen as human beings seeking equal opportunities, protect those they love, & live happy lives. If the "American Dream" is the equivalent to the promise land, what happens to those who don't (or can’t) make it due to the limitations put on them?

• The labels placed on Black men in the American prison system throughout History.

• When do oppressed people, who have been told that they are worthless, make the decision to believe in their worthlessness? When do they stop singing?

Q. Many artists say that constraints can catalyze creativity--but Zoom is a particularly difficult medium to work with. What have you learned about performance throughout this process? How did you have to alter your mindset?

Jackie Davis: Zoom is definitely a different medium. It wasn't meant to be used in the ways that we are asking it to work for us. But artists are nothing if not malleable, and we are able to use this willingness we have to shift ourselves to work with our circumstances. Zoom has now become an "environmental" location. Our physical location becomes our set. And, with this new environment, we have to engage with our audiences differently. We have gone from a proscenium or the round to a small square derived from a little green dot on our computer.

Q. Do you have any advice for writers and performers as they tackle the daunting task of virtual theatre?

JD: My advice to writers would be: Continue writing your stories, let the producers and directors worry about how to make it work in Zoom. Write from your heart, not for the medium.

For performers: reach into the toolbox and focus on how to be exposed 'close up.' Theatre asks us to be visible to the back row; tv, film and these tiny zoom boxes reveal all of our secrets. We have to learn how to perform for this medium. Subtlety is our friend in this realm.

Q. What is the role of theatre and performance in an increasingly remote world?

JD: Theatre has always provided a sense of nostalgia. A sense of 'back when things were ____." Each of us is able to fill in that blank to fit our specific yearning. Being able to gather a group of artists from across the country or the globe is (dare I say) easier on this platform. There is also a longing and willingness to come together to make the work and share it with the world. In the darkest of days, it is we, the artists, that continue to bring hope through performances aimed to keep the country engaged, entertained and--even if momentarily--distracted from the darkness we are currently experiencing on a GLOBAL level.