Abingdon Virtual was created in 2020 by Abingdon Theatre Company as a new creative outlet in a time where live theatre was not possible. It is led by Executive Producer, Chad Austin who has extensive experience in both stage and screen and was recently part of the producing team for the Emmy Award winning, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert on NBC. Abingdon Virtual’s first project, It Cries Too Loudly, was a huge success winning the 1st Place Award at the Wild Dogs International Screendance Festival, Best Cinematography at the Eastern European Film Festival, Honorable Mention at the London International Monthly Film Festival, and Finalist at both the Prague International Film Awards and SHORT to the Point Festival. The piece has also been selected for consideration at several other festivals.
Apart
After many years apart, two siblings, now strangers, take a road trip and navigate what it means to share the same blood.
Written and Directed by Pierre Marais
Executive Producer Chad Austin
Starring Nasia Thomas (Caroline, or Change, Six) and De’Lon Grant (Come from Away, Jersey Boys)
Cinematography by Matthew Tompkins.
As Apple Pie
Written and directed by South African born Pierre Marais, ‘As Apple Pie’ is an immigrant’s observation of an American conversation. There seem to be fewer cultivated spaces to have an honest conversation with differing opinions and the result is that no one is really talking to each other. Not communicating seems to be as American as apple pie.
Written and Directed by Pierre Marais
Starring Josh Breckenridge (Come From Away, The Scottsboro Boys), Ilda Mason (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story) and Justin Sargent (Rock of Ages, Spider–Man Turn Off The Dark)
Cinematography by Matthew Tompkins.
It Cries Too Loudly
Devastated and powerless as she watched the 2020 Beirut explosion and its aftermath from afar, Lebanese American choreographer Dolly Sfeir set about creating a work to express her delicate state of mind. It Cries Too Loudly, is a dance film exploring the overlap between joy and tragedy in her tumultuous home country and the experience of being an emigre.