We miss you! And we miss getting together to see and discuss theatre.
So it's time for our first Virtual Talkback coming to you live from ActorsNET!
With stages dark all over the world, ActorsNET began streaming some of our past productions via YouTube for free. We thought it might be fun to watch a production "together" while still apart, and then have a talkback, just as we do for our shows.
First up will be Dear Brutus. The production is currently streaming on our YouTube channel. You can watch it at any time.
Then, on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 7pm EST, we will host a Virtual Talkback via YouTube.
What is a Virtual Talkback? As a way to be responsive to our patrons, we have devised a way for our audience members to come together to ask our cast and creative team questions without having to leave the comfort of their home.
Hosted by our Director of Marketing, this discussion allows you to hear directly from the actors and director about their creative process and to open a dialogue about theatre as an art form, issues a particular play might raise, or how an idea came to be. The direction of the conversation is completely up to you!
This Virtual Talkback will be on YouTube live. To participate send us a question or comment about ActorsNET production of Dear Brutus via this link:
and we will respond during our talk back! Viewers may also contribute to the talkback by entering their question or comment into the LIVE CHAT box on their screen.

ActorsNET Unwraps a Holiday Treat
A Free Online Offering of Dear Brutus
ActorsNET celebrates the holidays by premiering a free online video presentation of Dear Brutus - a fantasy drama for grownups by J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan.
The play's title comes from a line from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves..." Almost all the characters are at crossroads in their lives. "Who hasn't wondered how his or her life might be different if they had made different choices along the way?" asked ActorsNET Artistic Director Cheryl Doyle. "Who hasn't wondered how their careers or love lives might benefit from a second chance? Who hasn't pondered what might have been?"
Available starting December 23, 2020 on the ActorsNET YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/c/ActorsNETofBucksCounty
Dear Brutus was adapted by Board President Maryalice Rubins-Topoleski and Charlotte Kirkby. Actors and crew observed all precautions necessary during the pandemic. The first and third acts were recorded via Zoom and the second act was shot outdoors at Ridgeview Woods in Princeton, NJ.
Dear Brutus is the fanciful tale of an eccentric British horticulturalist named Lob, who invites five women and three of their spouses for a stay at his mansion, culminating on Midsummer's Eve. The guests don't know why they've been invited, and get no useful information from Lob's evasive butler, Matey. As night falls, their impish host challenges them to walk outside into his garden where, just beyond, a woodland magically appears. Uncertain but curious, the guests enter the wood, where each is shown how "a second chance" could change the course of their lives. Upon return to Lob's drawing room, each confronts the possibility of change.
The ensemble cast consists of (alphabetically) Ken Ammerman, Cheryl and Joe Doyle, Matt Duchnowski, Mary Kierst, Charlotte Kirkby, Michael Krahel, Nyiema Lunsford, Cat Miller, Nicholas Pecht, and Maryalice Rubins-Topoleski.
THE DEAR BRUTUS CAST

Cast members of ActorsNET's film of Dear Brutus react to the appearance of a magical wood beyond the garden. The film, adapted from the play by J.M. Barrie, combines Zoom-style scenes with outdoor filming to create a quarantine-adherent holiday present.
(Top row, L to R): Cat Miller, Nyiema Lunsford, Mary Kierst; (second row): Maryalice Rubins-Topoleski, Nicholas Pecht, Cheryl Doyle; (third row): Michael Krahel, Joe Doyle, Matt Duchnowski

Cast members Ken Ammerman and Nyiema Lunsford bask in the midsummer moonlight in ActorsNET's film of Dear Brutus.

Cast membersMaryalice Rubins-Topoleski, Ken Ammerman, Nyiema Lunsford, and Joe Doyle meet in a magical wood by the moonlight of Midsummer Eve..

Cast members Matt Duchnowski and Charlotte Kirkby enjoy a magical moment by moonlight on Midsummer Eve.