On April 30, Delta Drama will begin its all-virtual performance of “She Kills Monsters.”
“Delta Drama is still functioning, we are still working, and we are still offering opportunities to perform,” said Professor Greg Foro, director of Delta Drama’s latest play.
This will be the third virtual performance the drama department has put on this semester.
This production tells the story of a high school student who grapples with the tragic loss of her younger sister in a car accident.
The protagonist discovers that her younger sister wrote a campaign for the role-playing game “Dungeons and Dragons” before her death. The play takes us along as she plays out the campaign as a way of getting to know her sister, whom she feels she never got to truly know since she lost her life at such a young age.
The show begins running on April 30. Students can request access for a free ticket at deltadrama.com. Once the ticket is accessed, students have 24 hours to watch the production.
Rehearsals for this play took place entirely via Zoom, with Delta drama students making do at home as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to limit in-person rehearsals.
“People are setting up studios in their homes,” said Foro. “We provide materials such as green screens and microphones, and in some cases computers or cameras to students so they can set up a home studio, and we rehearse and perform remotely that way.”
If the state of California reopens its entire economy and lifts most COVID restrictions on June 15, like Gov. Gavin Newsom announced it would on April 6, the uncertainty over what the fall semester will look like for Delta Drama will certainly remain.
“We don’t know yet how this is all gonna pan out,” said Foro when asked about his department’s plans for potentially holding in-person performances in the ’21-’22 academic year. “We are batting around ideas of doing an outdoor production, in which case, we could have a live audience.”
One difficulty around choosing a path to follow is the lingering uncertainty over what changes might be made to safety guidelines.
“In some ways just knowing one way or the other would make things easier,” Foro said.
Elsewhere in Stockton, entertainment venues are beginning to release information and promote new bookings for future performances and shows.
The popular regional Mexican music group Grupo MS is slated to be headliners for a show at the Stockton Arena on Nov. 20.
Stockton’s Bob Hope Theatre has begun adding performers to its calendar. Comedian Jeff Dunham is slated to perform at the landmark theater on Dec. 2.
Details about how these events would stay within CDC safety guidelines were not immediately available.
Similarly, the Haggin Museum in the Victory Park neighborhood of Stockton reopened to the public on April 14 with limited capacity.
Even though the museum is open, things aren’t quite back to the normal schedule.
“We do not anticipate holding many of our regular events or programs nor hosting our late-night 1st & 3rd Thursday evening hours when we initially reopen,” read a statement on the museum’s website.
According to the California Public Health Department’s website, restrictions could be loosened if two specific criteria are met.
As long as the vaccine supply in California remains sufficient for everyone over the age of 16 who wants it, and the “burden of disease” is consistently low, we can expect more entertainment opportunities to spring up in Stockton soon.
According to the CDPH, the “burden of disease” would be classified as “low” as long as “hospitalizations are stable and low, and specifically, hospitalizations among fully vaccinated individuals are low.”