Dear Brutus

During the first Covid-19 Lockdown, Jack Poulin (VPA ’23) gathered a group of out of work actors and directed a production of “Dear Brutus” by J. M. Barrie using covid techniques to keep separation that pre-dated the covid protocols theatres use today.

The day of the show they raised just under a thousand dollars for The Actors Fund, an organization that not only supports actors, but the crew members that do behind the scenes work. Often times these people are left out because they’re not front and center, but their work is crucial to any production.

“Being the son of a stagehand who lost his job, I understood the importance of including the entire theatre when trying to support what – at the time – was a dying craft. It took many hours of preparing a script, bringing people together, designing a concept, making a schedule, working around conflicts, getting the space, getting people to come, following covid rules, inventing new ways of following covid protocols, directing actors, and countless hours discussing my work to anyone who would listen. It was my heart and soul for a whole summer and I’m glad it culminated in helping the community I long to be apart of in my future.”