Last spring, Kate Bergstrom was set to direct Airness, Chelsea Marcantel’s comedy about people entered in an air-guitar competition. It would have been her debut as a guest artist/lecturer in the UCSB Theater program. Then COVID hit, and suddenly everything was, well, up in the air — until she got a call from the playwright.
“The faculty at UCSB asked if I’d be willing to do it on Zoom, and these two digital designers, Vickie Scott and Corwin Evans, jumped in, really game to make something wild happen,” Bergstrom said. “And as soon as the UCSB students came in, I was inspired by their resilience.”
Although Marcantel wrote Airness prior to COVID-19, Bergstrom emphasizes that its message will resonate strongly with audiences who are grappling with how to get through the pandemic.