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THREAD: All I have to say is that internet soothsaying is for the birds (especially when it comes to the future of theater and live performance). Just let the uncertainty ebb and flow like the tide. 1/?
My judgement is that in this moment, everyday is a new episode of a soap opera where the writers can change their minds about the direction of the story at will.
I feel this “debate” about what the theater industry should or should not be doing right now or where theater folks should or should not be putting their hopes for the future is a futile one.
We cannot change what we do not know. We do not know what the future holds for commercial theater, non-profit theater, television or film when we can’t even tell whether we or our loved ones will be with us three weeks from now.
I just did a 29 hour zoom book workshop of a new musical I’ve been developing for over a year with a theater this week. Going into it I didn’t know how I would feel about it under the circumstances.
But coming out of it, I never felt a stronger sense of community or togetherness. I came out of it feeling like I was still a human being and it reaffirmed my hopefulness in other humans and in the future and that made me cry.
I wrote an 8 minute play that I was commissioned to write by the Woolly Mammoth where I hope to see my musical A Strange Loop this fall. The play is not great. I wrote it fast and for a specific purpose and for some income.
But doing it also made me feel a little more human. I say all of that to say this: I’m sure there is some “bad” theater happening online now. And I’m also sure that commercial and non-profit theater will return at some point, perhaps changed by new economic realities.
I’m also sure that digital theater will continue to innovate and maybe even begin to make an even larger social and economic imprint beyond/beside this pandemic.
Regardless, for me it’s important to remember that there are humans behind all of it. And for me, the purpose of theater in times like these and beyond is to make people feel a little more human.
So please be kind to each other as we stumble through this. Please be kind to yourself as you stumble through this. The systems that power our world are constantly trying to dehumanize us. We have the power to take that humanity back. END OF THREAD.
