Waiting for the Host is a virtual play-within-a-play style comedy performed over a video-conferencing platform in two parts. 

By Marc Palmieri

Directed by Patrick Torres

Access the program for Waiting for the Host by texting the word “Program” to 919-373-6060 or clicking here (program is optimized for viewing on your phone).

Part 1: Waiting for the Host
While theatres, playgrounds, schools, and churches are shuttered by a modern plague, the rector of a small church gathers a handful of parishioners via video conference. Her goal is to record a theatrical reading of the story of the Passion for the church website. As exes bicker and technology confuses, this socially distant endeavor quickly becomes chaotic. Still, in the effort, the group finds a strange, painful closeness, and that their comic and clumsy reading has become a kind of desperate prayer.

Part 2: Still Waiting
The pandemic lockdown is well into its second month. Members of the church find themselves bitten by the “acting bug.” With the help of a “professional director” from Manhattan, they hope to launch a community theatre at the church. To their surprise, the bishop and church leadership found their Passion Play objectionable, and their plans are met with resistance. They decide to put on a showcase of their skills, with an “updated” version of medieval Biblical plays, and find they win the support of an unexpected guest.