“I don’t think that anybody who loves the arts should feel like ‘Oh, this has all gone away, and the arts organizations are out of the woods now.’ “Everybody is struggling and we don’t know where things are going,” Davis says. Davis’ urge to create is great – that’s what he does – and the cold-water reality is that even a nonprofit with a healthy roster of donors and supporters needs to bring in a bit of money on its own. War of the Worlds represents a compromise. The audience will literally be in their cars. 22 on a stage constructed in the theater’s 1 st Avenue North parking lot. “People are making pretty drastic life choices right now because of this thing,” Davis says.įreeFall is gearing up to return to live performance – in a manner of speaking – with the “drive-in” show War of the Worlds, to be performed Oct. And theaters need people in the seats to remain open – for performers to perform in.Ĭovid implemented and enforced a “wait and see” system – and after six months, even the most optimistic are feeling a little ground down. These are the unforeseeable changes that have caused the business of live theater to teeter on the precipice of failure for six months: Performers need to perform. “I’m very grateful that we were able to keep so much of our staff on payroll for so long,” Davis says. He and his partner, John Mark Jernigan, are launching a podcast, Say Hello.Ĭrawford’s departure came just as freeFall was bringing employees back from furloughs, described by executive and artistic director Eric Davis as temporary but necessary. “While freeFall has been a vital part of my life since moving to Florida, I feel as though it’s time for me to set out on a personal journey and rediscover my love for the theatre on my own terms.” “After weeks of intense soul searching and due to artistic and ethical differences, I have decided it’s best for me not to return to my position,” Crawford wrote on his Facebook page. The reason, at least indirectly, was Covid-19: All performing arts spaces were shut down in March (midway through the Ghost Light season), and the talented actor, director and writer had virtually nothing to do.

This week, Chris Crawford announced that he was leaving freeFall, where he’d been Associate Artistic Director for exactly one year. How ironic that freeFall Theatre Company’s 2019-2020 season was titled Ghost Light – referring to an old theatrical custom that says the room is dark and devoid of people.

Freefall theater st petersburg