How Would You Like To Watch A Play In A Buffalo Store Window?

Live theater is returning to the City of Buffalo with a twist. Alleyway Theatre is hosting its 30th annual “Buffalo Quickies” short play festival...but this year it will be slightly different.

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For the 2021 edition of the event, WIVB-TV told viewers that actors perform their ten-minute shows in storefront windows throughout the Theatre District, the audience enjoys the performance outside wearing “Silent Disco” style headphones.

When the show ends, the audience moves to the next storefront and changes the channel on their headset to hear the next play.

The storefronts are basically sets – from the 1890s-era play “The Yellow Wallpaper” to  “Lily and Tessa’s Super Star Show, Episode 37”.

“The six plays really run the gamut – they’re funny, they’re sad, they’re weird,” Horn said.  “Some are realistic, some are fanciful and fantastical, and each storefront has been designed as its own little world.”

Susan Drozd director of “The Yellow Wallpaper” says...

“Coming back in a very collaborative way felt right, coming back with a bunch of friends who really believe in the good of what theater can do, felt right,” Drozd said.

Alleyway Theatre has been finding creative ways throughout the pandemic to bring theater to Buffalo.

You may remember in the height of the pandemic the Alleyway Theatre adapted its version of “A Christmas Carol” as a radio play.

“It’s been really creative and exciting – we learned a lot, and we’re really happy to go back to making theater in a theater,” Horn laughed. “We’re excited for next season, we’ll be back in September with a full season at our main stage.”

Guests have enthusiastically welcomed the return to live performances.

Buffalo Quickies is running Wednesdays through Saturdays until July 10. You can buy tickets online here or at the Alleyway Theatre Box Office.