ST. LOUIS: A group of St. Louis theatre companies have joined together to create the St. Louis Theatre Community Task Force, which aims to help the local theatre community navigate challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As I was thinking about how to proceed with my own company in the wake of the pandemic,” said Sharon Hunter, producing artistic director of Moonstone Theatre Company, “I started thinking it would be helpful to get a lot of the theatres to sit down via Zoom and discuss concerns, ideas, and solutions for moving forward as we navigate the future of theatre in St. Louis.”

Local theatre groups of all sizes are invited to participate in the task force. Additionally, representatives from the St. Louis County Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control have been invited to the first online meeting on April 23 to take questions and address concerns. The task force will discuss ways to conduct safe auditions, rehearsals, and performances; finding new ways to seat audiences; maintaining the visibility of the St. Louis theatre community; new ways to offer theatre experiences; and recommendations for using personal protective equipment, among other topics.

Theatre companies invited to participate include Uppity Theatre Company, R-S Theatrics, the Q Collective, the Midnight Company, Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble, Upstream Theater, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, COCA, Shakespeare Festival STL, Black Rep, Stray Dog Theatre, Stages St. Louis, St. Louis Actors’ Studio, the Muny, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, New Jewish Theatre, Cherokee Street Theatre, the Cabaret Project of St. Louis, Max & Louie Productions, Black Mirror Theatre, Young Liars, West End Players Guild, Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, New Line Theatre, ERA Theatre Company, STL Fringe Festival, St. Louis Shakespeare, Metro Theatre Company, and the Tesseract Theatre Company.

More information and updates are available on the task force’s Facebook page, with the initial meeting scheduled for April 23 at 7 p.m.