Alex Fallis's major creative research project of 2021 was "Her Closely," presented at the LSPU Hall (through Resource Centre for the Arts) in June.

"As everyone knows, mid-2021 was an unsure time in the performing arts due to the ongoing Covid pandemic," said Prof Fallis, who directed the piece. "'Her Closely' had already been postponed, and the rehearsal process had to adapt and change as a result."

Instead of doing rehearsal with all artistic personnel all the time, the process was broken up into a series of "workshops."

"In April, we worked with key Corner Brook-based artists, primarily puppet designer Michael Rigler and lighting designer Renate Pohl (Grenfell fine arts faculty member)," he said. "This took place in the Grenfell Fine Arts Theatre (allowing for social distancing throughout the process) and was greatly aided and supported by Grenfell theatre staff, especially Beth Bradbury and Lou MacDonald."

In late May, the company moved to St. John's for in-depth rehearsal/creation with the performers and stage manager Sheldon Downey, a Grenfell alumnus. The show was presented from June 11-13 and was the first full production presented in the LSPU Hall after the Covid shutdown of live performance.

"Her Closely" is a devised theatre piece, created from letters written between Franz Kafka and Felice Bauer. The text was a combination of the verbatim quotes from the letters and dialogue, which was created by Marie Jones, who adapted and devised the piece. As well, the performers created movement-based scenes through physical improvisation, often using physical exercises that Kafka himself practiced. Shadow puppets and projections added a further layer of the surreal, expressionistic quality we were aiming for.

"The result was a performance that showed the inner lives of the two protagonists through movement and atmosphere as well as more traditional text," he said.

Prof. Fallis said the show was well received, and the producers are currently investigating further performance opportunities.