New Theater Troupe Comes to Town

Viral Flash Theatre, a drama troupe under the umbrella of the New London Theatre, is new in town, but they are already making a name for themselves. 

Through word-of-mouth advertising and slightly hush-hush plans for the future, people are starting to notice that something unusual is going on with this group of actors and actresses.

It started out as the brainchild of , board chairwoman. She saw that there were not many opportunities for teenagers and children to participate , though there was a definite interest from that sector. 

“This stemmed out of [Dawn's] desire to do something for the girls,” said John Berlo, Dawn's husband and New London's publicity manager. “There's a lot of other things that people would like to do. The idea is not to make money or keep the facility afloat – it's to give people the opportunity to do things differently.” 

Their first major performance was this past weekend, starring a cast of teenage girls performing . It turns out that young actresses can carry the emotional weight of this gripping drama as well as their adult counterparts. With believable Southern accents that rival Sally Field and Julia Roberts in the film version, these girls showed their audience that they can hold their own.

And, that bodes well for the future of Viral Flash Theatre. There will be repeat performances next weekend. But that's not all the Berlos have up their sleeves. 

“It could be that a couple of months from now you would hear that a bunch of people pop up in the food court at the Mall of Georgia doing the main scene from Romeo and Juliet,” John hinted. “It could be that the nursing home down the street comes in and says, 'Hey, we've been practicing the Full Monty and we want to perform it.' OK! Sounds cool.” 

We have all heard of Flash Mobs spontaneously bursting into song or dance on the subways or public parks, but not flash acting – yet. 

“I really like the idea of this just because we can do different things,” Dawn Berlo said. “We can also do more controversial shows. If we ever wanted to do Vagina Monologues, we couldn't do it under New London Theatre. It's a more controversial show, and we try to be as family friendly as we can under that umbrella.” 

Jennifer Behret, who played Shelby in Steel Magnolias on Sunday evening, is excited about the prospects of Viral Flash Theater. This was her first starring role. 

“It gives us an opportunity to do things we can't do at New London,” she said. “And, obviously it's a lot of fun.” 

Although they used New London for the initial performance, that is not their final stop. 

“Any future shows we do may or may not be done here,” John Berlo said. “They may be done out of somebody's house, or another venue.” 

Keep your eyes and ears open for upcoming performances. You may be surprised where they turn up.

Visit their website for more information or to be involved.