Mission Nonprofit Spotlight: Harlequin Productions

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Each month, Thurston Community Media (TCMedia)’s Mission Nonprofit connects with local organizations and agencies that are making positive impacts in our communities. This month, Mission Nonprofit host Robert Kam sat down with Aaron Lamb, artistic director of Harlequin Productions, and Terry Edward Moore, an actor with the nonprofit, to discuss a “A Christmas Carol,” re-opening, COVID-19 precautions and more.

Harlequin Productions is the only professional, live-theatre production company between Portland and Seattle. Their mission is to “invigorate, educate, and empower our community and all people to feel more, think more, play more, and judge less through the mirror of real live theatre.” They produce seven shows a year at the State Theater in downtown Olympia.

Because they do live, in-person theater, COVID-19 put a stop to all work for the nonprofit over the past 20 months. “Unfortunately, we had to furlough all of our staff, myself included,” explains Aaron. “Because of the work we do, if there’s no way to do it, we’re completely shut down. So, we shut down and went in a hibernation mode basically, where we just subsisted on as minimal operation as possible.”

They were able to do live radio theater with the actors in their own homes during the fall, doing several shows that had been planned for live performances, including the classic favorite “A Christmas Carol.”

This year, “A Christmas Carol” returns to the stage in front of live audiences, with performances going on now through December 24. Terry Edward Moore plays Ebenezer Scrooge in the ghostly yule tale, making it is eighth performance of the character, and his eleventh time performing the play. Two years ago, he played in a Sherlock Homes twist of “A Christmas Carol” where he played Holmes as Scrooge, being visited by the ghost of Moriarty.

“The great fun of Scrooge is getting to play both of these extremes,” says Terry. “He starts out an absolute bear, as described by several characters, which is always fun to play, right? The bad guys have all the best lines! But then I get to make this complete transformation into someone who finds great joy in his life.”

To attend “A Christmas Carol,” all audience members over 12 must have proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours. Mask are required for all theatergoers. Those under 12, for this production, do not need proof of vacation. You can purchase tickets for “A Christmas Carol” on their website. They do have Pay What You Can/Choose nights as well as discounted tickets for students.

Want to get involved? Harlequin Productions accepts submissions from local and regional playwrights. And of course, you can audition for upcoming productions. In the future, as COVID-19 mandates allow, they will return to their classes and volunteer opportunities as well. You can also support by becoming a member.

For more information, watch the full video above and visit the Harlequin Productions website.

You can watch Mission Nonprofit on channel 77 on Sundays at 4:30 p.m., Tuesdays at 7 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. You can also watch on TCMedia.org, Video On-Demand or our Roku channel. To learn more about what TCMedia does, visit the Thuston Community Media YouTube channel or the TC Media website and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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