The Band's Visit: The Perfect Way to Celebrate the Return of Theatre

 

By Gwen O’Connor

 

            After being unable to cross the threshold into DPAC’s comforting environment for 18 months, The Band’s Visit was the perfect way to celebrate the return of live theatre. Though the entire show may take place over just one night, no scene feels redundant and no conversation mundane. The Band's Visit just goes to show audiences that even in the loneliest of times, when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere, there are still people willing to offer a helping hand. While for most people that helping hand may not always be to offer housing to a 7-person orchestra who barely speak the same language as them, it can be in the form of holding the door open, grabbing something from the top shelf, or simply saying 'thank you' to those offering assistance. 

            The Band's Visit was a spectacle, and I am beyond honored that I had the opportunity to view it at DPAC. Simply being able to sit down with a program in my lap and anxiously await the lights to dim is a feeling I never realized how much I had missed until I was able to feel it again. And The Band's Visit's messages of love and finding comfort in your own community is absolutely relatable to any audience member. When DPAC's doors have been shut for so long, seeing a show like this one made me re-fall in love with theatre when a part of me never thought I'd get to experience anything like it again.
            Even when the world may still be in a confusing state, it's exhilarating to once again escape reality for as long as possible. And The Band's Visit was just the escape I think we all needed.