I worked with each of the 24 actors during the COVID-19 shutdown to create suitable camera-ready environments for their unique stories within the constraints of their homes. Collaborating with them was challenging, exciting, and lots of fun with improvisation and creativity. Essential is a documentary theater project that explores who and what became essential during the unprecedented moments of 2020. Watch the performance HERE. Presented as a 24-episode original series, Essential explores the richness of the human experience in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our company members share incredibly moving and personal stories with you through a series of monologues based on interviews with real people from all walks of life. Student actors portray frontline workers, medical professionals, creatives, community leaders, drag queens, Black Lives Matter organizers, parents, and more.