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<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212; It was a night nearly two years in the making.</p><p>On Thursday, the first of six episodes of &#8220;The Barre&#8221; was screened at the River Street Jazz Caf&#233;. It&#8217;s a new online-only crime show both produced in and taking place in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>The project&#8217;s assistant director, Brittany Boote, 29, of Wilkes-Barre, said production started in October 2015, and it was exciting to finally see the show up on a screen.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve put in a lot of work and time, so it&#8217;s nice to see it come to life,&#8221; Boote said.</p><p>The first episode, created by Terrell Bobbett and written by Tetro Augury, depicted Wilkes-Barre as a dark, gritty town. The city&#8217;s ongoing, and very real, opioid epidemic hangs over the show like a specter, touching on virtually every main character.</p><p>&#8220;The Barre&#8221; focuses on Amber, a young woman who is down on her luck after leaving an abusive boyfriend. Staxx, a friend and local drug dealer, helps her turn to a life of dealing as a means of supporting herself. It isn&#8217;t long before things turn violent from there.</p><p>Boote, who also portrays character Lydia in the show, says while the production does take dramatic license, the criminal element is an unfortunate reality of the Wilkes-Barre area.</p><p>&#8220;We tried to represent the area in an artistic way,&#8221; Boote said. &#8220;It may not be everyone&#8217;s story, but it&#8217;s some people&#8217;s.&#8221;</p><p>One local man who came to the screening, Bill Jeffery, took note of the production value of the program.</p><p>&#8220;I was really impressed, especially by the actors,&#8221; Jeffery said. &#8220;It looked like an actual, professional show. It was beautifully produced.&#8221;</p><p>Jeffery previously worked with director Bobbett as a writer, and said he came out to support Bobbett&#8217;s work.</p><p>Jeffery said the show cast Wilkes-Barre in an intriguing light.</p><p>&#8220;It showed a side that I was unaware of, but Terrell had told me existed,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s definitely a dark side.&#8221;</p><p>Boote said the rest of the episodes would be available soon, hopefully by the end of the year. She said the exact plan for screening the remaining episodes hadn&#8217;t been hashed out, but the first would be made available on YouTube soon after Thursday&#8217;s screening.</p><p>If you also find yourself intrigued by &#8220;The Barre,&#8221; you can find more information on the show&#8217;s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheBarreSeries/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Brittany Boote, assistant director for &#8216;The Barre,&#8217; thanks viewers who came out to see the show&#8217;s first episode screened at the River Street Jazz Caf&#233; on Thursday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_barre-screening.jpg</photo0><caption0>Brittany Boote, assistant director for &#8216;The Barre,&#8217; thanks viewers who came out to see the show&#8217;s first episode screened at the River Street Jazz Caf&#233; on Thursday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Patrick Kernan | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6119 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Screening of gritty local crime show ‘The Barre’ comes to Jazz Café