After 18 months on hold, their stage dark, Green Light Arts is back to it, happy to offer up the premiere of a new live theatre production, We Could Be, to a local audience.

The free show consists of six 10-15 minute plays, all provoking the thought of what we could be after the pandemic. Who will we be? Thus the title, ‘We Could Be.’ All plays were commissioned from Waterloo Region playwrights.

“Rather than try to find something that could fit this time, we commissioned the five playwrights to write pieces that were inspired by that notion. And what’s great is then you have five very different, unique perspectives on this idea. Some of them are clever and kind of quirky and a little absurd, and then some are very realistic,” said Matt White, artistic director of Green Light Arts and the director of the show.

“I think one of the big things is this notion of connection and finding connection with each other. One of the pieces talks a lot about this where so much of the beauty or, dare I say magic of life can be found in these sort of seemingly be-now or small moments of connection –  sitting together playing a game or just being present with another person and actually trying to hold on to those moments. Seeing how if we can somehow weave those kinds of moments together, what kind of life we could have; in the title that notion of ‘we could be’ and what can we be?  When everybody talks about like the pandemic being this opportunity of a reset, who can we be coming out of this? Will we be different?”

The first run wrapped up this week at the Kitchener Market.

“One of the first pieces, Climb, Swim, Cry, Fly, it’s kind of a fable where there’s one character who wants to flip the switch, get rid of all of the humans and basically start over, and the other character in the scene is basically trying to convince that character not to do that. Other scenes sort of tumble out of this story to help this other character’s argument about why we shouldn’t flick the switch. There’s beauty to hold on to, and something worth fighting for,” said White.

Climb, Swim, Cry, Fly is by local playwright Ciaran Myers who also wrote Whale, another play the series showcases. Whale is about a group working together to save a beached whale reminding the audience of the importance of community.

Other plays include Oh Canada by Ahmad Meree, We Be Splendid by Intisar Awisse, Preach, Boy by Teneile Warren and Euphemia by Nicole Smith.

“I think they’re really excited to have an audience, to be able to share the piece with and to share moments with,” noted White about the cast. “It’s actually quite exciting getting back into the swing of things. It feels sometimes a little overwhelming, emotionally, just trying to wrap our heads around all the logistics of all of this. It’s pretty cool to be back at it.”