As part of my Production Associate duties at Taproot Theatre Company, I was the primary COVID Compliance Officer and primary author of the Rehearsal & Performance Infection Control Protocols.
The protocols were written and regularly updated based on guidance from Actor’s Equity Association, the CDC, the Washington State Department of Health, Seattle & King County Public Health, and The People’s CDC.
The implementation of these Infection Control Protocols, as well as the hearty understudy program, successfully kept shows from being cancelled due to positive cases from November 2022 through the end of my tenure as CCO in July 2023. As of May 2024, Taproot has successfully avoided any additional COVID cancellations.
In 2023, Michelle Rodriguez, Taproot’s Production Manager, and I were honored with the Melissa Hines Backstage Gregory Award for our COVID safety work.
“This was work that they had never been trained for, but they rose to the challenge with grace and skill, always centering the same core value of care that guided their work as stage managers—always working to create a process in which everyone can thrive as they do their work.”
Sonja Lowe, Taproot Theatre Literary Manager, quoted in American Theatre Magazine Role Call, December 2023