It’s been quite a while since I have written. Much has changed. And then COVID19 happened.
I was busy being baffled by why everyone was obsessed with
toilet paper. Then schools started
closing, then states. I quickly found
myself being primarily an elementary school teacher for my two daughters. It definitely made me more thankful for their
teacher’s skills and expertise. And I
realized how complicated logging in and out of 20 things can be for 2 kids for
each assignment… But everything is a
learning experience right?
Broadway closing was a surreal moment. Almost unbelievable. It was temporary – to control the
spread. We knew that at the “end” it
wouldn’t magically be over. The virus
would not be cured or a vaccine implemented – but in some ways expectations
seemed to change and our understanding of things changed, and then changed
again. And of course there are many,
many different views. And the impact –
emotionally and financially – personally and socially has been huge. 9/11 was my best comparative experience at
first, but it is more than that!
At first I streamed as many shows as I could find (and I
found many more than I expected).
Streaming a play is never the same.
Red and the Incident at Vichy stood out to me – they
managed to catch my attached through the screen while the others didn’t. I managed to feel emotionally connected. A few feel good musicals did the same like Kinky Boots and Billy Elliot. At home there
are too many distractions. And if it
doesn’t grab your attention there are too many other entertainment
options.
Some theatre folks had switched to making masks or face
shields – or even shields to install in companies for checkout areas and stuff
like that. We did what theatre does –
keep moving and adapting. But theatres
were dark… Academic theatres were dark
but still trying to teach hands on skills in an online environment.
Social distancing in theatre I think is a problem. For patrons and backstage. It just doesn’t really work. There isn’t room backstage, and the shows
require a certain intimacy between cast and crew. For the audience, part of the experience is
the other audience members. The tension
or laughter. It makes theatre, well
theatre. Streaming theatre loses that –
but a mostly empty house might as well. Plus
there is profitability. Losing all those
seats either means increased ticket prices – more shows (which actually also effects
costs), or decreased show budgets and scopes and a different level of
performance quality – lowered production values.
As an introvert, in many ways, I
have not minded some of the changes. I
like all of the virtual content available – though that is another post. I like being about to do things online or on
the phone instead of going in and doing it.
My life is a different pace than before.
But what I found that I missed the most was connection. As an introvert I could go out and my
connection meter would go up simply by being around others with inadvertent or
surprising short conversations. Just
running into people and saying hi. With no
one going out, social connection had to be a conscious choice. To call.
To text. To respond to a post or
send an email. And, nothing was the same
– many people were out of work – many people had their job, now at home – plus educating
kids, nothing was quite the same so there was a lot to navigate. Zoom became the new google.
So I inadvertently set out on a
bit of a quest after streaming tons of Broadway shows to try to find more
interactive content. One of the first
stops on that was an interactive episode on Netflix – which is also worthy of
its own piece of writing. I’ve done
things on zoom, phone calls, texting games, escape rooms, tours, some “theatre”,
some music… and a wide variety of
Immersive theatre. Good and bad. It’s not really that new – and it’s been
around for a long time in many forms. But
I think, that it is one of the key ways for theatre to continue in today’s
world. And that will be the subject my
next post!
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