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Innovation can occur when you least expect it and this is what Marc Palmieri, communications studies instructor in Mercy College’s School of Liberal Arts, did when he became the first American playwright to compose a one-of-a-kind play solely designed for online broadcast.

The play, “Waiting For The Host,” has seen great success with audiences and critics since its release in spring 2020. It involves two acts – “Waiting For The Host” and “Still Waiting” – both of which have been streamed by prominent national and international theater companies, including Syracuse’s Redhouse Arts Center, Penn State Centre Stage and Pangdemonium, a Singapore-based company. In even more exciting news, a book adaptation of the play has been released by the Dramatists Play Service, one of the premier playlicensing and theatrical publishing agencies in the world.

The performance vehicle for “Waiting For The Host” and “Still Waiting” is the now all-too-familiar online meeting platform Zoom, which is fitting, since the play is about a tech-challenged church meeting hosted over Zoom to plan a virtual version of The Passion Play, or Easter pageant, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To read more of this article in the Spring 2021 Maverick Magazine,