The Bruka Theatre, a Downtown Reno fixture for nearly three decades, has been shuttered since March.

"It's been rough," said Mary Bennett, Producing Artistic Director for The Bruka. "I've performed most of my life and to have this kind of time off, not in performance, has been interesting and humbling."

The windows have been boarded up for months, but written on those boards, a message to the community.

"We decided to stay boarded up with these lovely boards, and write past theater themes on the wall until we can reopen," Bennett said. "So we can give that message out to the audience that we're still here."

The hope is to have live theater back in Downtown Reno by next Spring. In the meantime, The Bruka, Reno Little Theater, and Good Luck Macbeth have all come together to ask the community for their continued support.

"Covid has brought a lot of weird things to all of us, but one thing it brought to our theater community was a collaboration between Bruka, Reno Little Theater and Good Luck Macbeth," Bennett said. "We formed an alliance in March, and we kept going and learned from each other.  We set up an 'I Saved Theatre' campaign so people can buy some really cool swag."

The groups have taken their craft virtual these last few months. The Bruka is in the middle of their annual Biggest Little Theater and New Works Festival right now.

"This is original works from artists in our community," Bennett said. "It's always experimental, always wonderful, and always fresh because the artists are creating it right now."

It's a way to stay connected until the curtains can rise again.

"I still think the community tries to connect, even though we have our masks, even though we have these limitations," Bennett said. "It's humbling us, it's making us want to connect more and appreciate the things we don't have, like live theater, like being able to be together, so let's continue to connect and make this good."

For more information on I Saved Theatre click here. 

For more information on Bruka Theatre click here.Â