Theater in a Time of a Global Pandemic

Many of us around the world are operating under “stay at home” measures, be they called “lockdowns,” “quarantines,” “PAUSE” or probably numerous other terms meant to convey what we need to do right now—which is, for most of us: stay at home. I’m going to first give a huge shout-out to all the essential workers in all the fields right now who are continuing to go to work outside of the home, many putting others’ needs before their own.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

You are seen and noticed and appreciated!

Thank you!

I live near NYC, in a county of New York State where, as of May 3, my county alone has over 29,000 confirmed cases of covid-19, and this tri-state area has over 470,000 confirmed cases. Just my state has had over 19,000 deaths from covid-19. It is unnerving to let those numbers sink in.

It has been tough. Which is why I’ve gone a full 2 months without a single post here. I went through weeks of some extreme anxiety, not sleeping or eating much, hyped on “fight or flight” stress adrenaline I hadn’t felt in such a prolonged way since my mother was dying. I know many people who have been sick with covid-19, and sadly, people who have lost loved ones due to this disease. Thankfully, after several weeks of this, my body finally moved to the next phase of “anticipatory grief” and this unrelenting anxiety waned. Now I can sleep better and relax enough to eat that brambleberry crisp ice cream my husband’s boss sent us (thank you!)! Not everyone has left that state of extreme anxiety and I’m aware of that too. This is uncharted territory, and we’re all dealing with this experience, and phases of this experience, differently.

So while I’m more relaxed, the reality remains. Every industry is affected. People are out of work. Parents are sous-teachers, while teachers are adapting to teach from home and often monitor their own children’s schoolwork, as well. People who are working in the field are struggling to maintain safety. People who are working inside the home are struggling to maintain balance. I mean, really, we’re all struggling to maintain balance, on so many fronts.

And… oh…my precious theater. This amazing, wonderful, creative, resilient craft of theater! And the people who do it. Our productions are canceled or postponed. Theater professionals are with less or no income. How do we re-imagine our community and regional theaters opening? Let alone Broadway, which, by almost definition, has over 500 seats in each theater? And, obviously the most devastating part—lives, so many lives, have been lost to covid-19—from my friends’ loved ones to our theater world’s playwright, Terrence McNally. The effects of the coronavirus are strong and felt all over. So I will first say that I am sorry. I am sorry for the losses, the pain, the missed experiences, the economic hardship, the loss of anyone’s health or loved one.

But I will say second, that while I don’t have answers to how the theater community will come out of this, I do know that people in theater are so crazily creative. People, honestly, in any field are creative, and responses to this time at home have proven that. Just google any topic and “quarantine” and see how creative people are reinventing experiences to be possible within this current way of living. But theater is, by nature, a creative art. We are constantly reinventing with words, designs, stories, characters.

This time social distancing at home is no exception.

When I was at the height of my anxiety—when the covid-19 count was increasing exponentially in my county every day, when our county center which normally houses concerts, circuses and computer shows, was being turned into a hospital, when my health practitioner friends had to share personal protection equipment because they did not have enough, when my sick friends could not get tested for covid-19—in the middle of all of this, do you know what brought me out of it? What made me step back for a moment and realize there was still a world going on outside of this consuming outbreak?

Your emails. Yes, you! Actors and teachers and parents who were still emailing me about using monologues for auditions, classes, videos, online showcases or just time spent honing their acting craft at home. I could look at your encouraging words and remember, theater is still going on. Actors are at home, wanting to practice new work on their own. Children are auditioning for agents. Teachers are formulating new lesson plans for instructing acting online. Despite all of this—so many of you did not miss a beat!

I was also overwhelmed by invitations to theater groups offering readings of new work. It was hard for me to have the capacity to jump right into that, but I appreciated it from the bottom of my heart. I saw Broadway performers put together amazing pieces to lift spirits; producers make play productions free to the public online; teachers jump into Harry Potter reader’s theater and Hamilton dance workshops. Who knew how much zoom could theater? Even last night, I participated in a virtual murder mystery party with 49 strangers, while 5 actors performed during the experience.

Theater immediately stepped up.

And Theater is still stepping up. Theaters are planning, figuring out accommodations, ways to meet needs in this current climate. I think many of us feel a kind of irreversible shift. But we’ve had irreversible shifts before, and that is the nature of adapting and moving forward. I don’t know where we will be 6 weeks, months, or years from now, but I do know that Theater will continue rising to the challenge and I will continue to be proud of being a part of that theatrical community.

So hang in there, theater friends. If you have the capacity for it, stay creative, productive in your own way, and inspiring. If you don’t have that capacity yet, that’s okay too. You have lots of shoulders to lean on until you get back to that place again. Most importantly, stay well. and stay safe. Try to find joy, if you can. We truly are in this together. And I’m sending you all some virtual hugs from the suburbs of New York City.