Raleigh Little Theatre's star turn: Masks

“It means we encompass every one,” says Pam Swanstrom, a volunteer seamstress who usually makes costumes for the stage productions.

With the coronavirus outbreak, productions are postponed. The box office is closed, the stage door locked.

However, the costume department is still buzzing along.

Twenty or so volunteers, led by the theater's costume designer staff, are making face coverings to help protect people from COVID-19.

“I feel like I'm doing a little to help in this terrible pandemic,” Swanstrom said.

“Community here at Raleigh Little Theatre really means just that,” said Jeremy Clos, assistant costume designer, “With this project, it's really to make a difference to help those front-line healthcare workers, because they are part of our community, too.”

The material for the masks is whatever the theater has on hand. Clos points to a handful of recently completed masks: “These were fabrics left over from a production called Bob Marley's Three Little Birds.”

Although Clos is leading the effort, he credits the volunteers with the bulk of the work. He cuts and packages the fabric and strings in bags, and volunteers take them home and sew them.

They've produced hundreds of masks already, sending them wherever the need is greatest, Clos said, adding, “We got a thank you note and a photograph from a retirement home in New York state.”

For Swanstrom, sewing them is a way of paying back.

“I have been given a lot in this life," she said, "and it's nice to give just a little bit back.”