Franklin Regional Thespians rehearse for virtual fall play, 'A Delightful Quarantine'

The Franklin Regional Thespians were originally planning to perform “A Christmas Carol” as their fall production. But they certainly weren’t going to risk an asymptomatic Scrooge passing the coronavirus to Bob Cratchit.

And, while this season’s virtual fall play has “Quarantine” in the title, it has nothing to do with covid-19, and director Richard Sunny is hoping it will be a welcome distraction from the pandemic.

“Surprisingly, there are some shows you can live-stream and some you can’t,” Sunny said of “A Delightful Quarantine,” Mark Dunn’s play about what goes on in a series of central Pennsylvania homes after an alien invasion is followed by a government-imposed quarantine.

Sunny is hoping the multi-set format will help the streamed version of the show translate for its audience. That structure also has helped maintain health and safety for rehearsals.

“We’re rehearsing ‘by house,’” he said. “And none of the houses has more than four people in it.”

The play checks in on — among others — a couple who were planning to go on their first date, a family who gets a visit from an alleged relative, and an elderly pair of sisters who end up stuck in the house with a man who wants to rob them, but can’t escape once he does.

Seniors Lavanya Anantharaman and Keethu Shriram, both 17, play the sisters.

“We kind of invite him to dinner, and then knock him out for a little while,” Anantharaman said. “The robber is surprisingly really nice, so we become friends.”

The FR Thespians will announce a future date for virtual ticket sales. Sunny said those who purchase a ticket will be provided with the pass-code to view the live-streamed show Dec. 4-6.

The cast will begin recording the show in segments the week of Nov. 16, leaving only three short weeks for rehearsals. And with covid-19 health and safety measures in effect, it’s not as though the cast can simply all gather at someone’s house to run lines.

“Usually, we’re able to get together and do a lot more as a group,” Shriram said. “So, I think it’ll be a lot of doing things individually, learning lines by ourselves and practicing at home, so that when we are able to come here as a team, it’s a matter of getting it all together rather than learning things here.”

After last year’s spring production was canceled during the early stages of the pandemic, Sunny made sure to start looking for opportunities early in the school year.

“I really want the kids to have a show this year, especially the seniors,” he said.