As I have acknowledged, it’s difficult to write about the issues we usually address here, while in the middle of the pandemic. So right now I’m not fighting it.

About six weeks into the pandemic, I read an article by Arthur C. Brooks in The Atlantic titled, “Two Errors Our Minds Make When Trying to Grasp the Pandemic.” (April 23, 2020) This jumped out at me:

“Start by acknowledging that you do not know what is going to happen in this crisis. Next, distinguish between what can and can’t be known right now, and thus recognize that gorging on all the available information will not really resolve your knowledge deficit — you won’t be able to turn uncertainty into risk by spending more hours watching CNN, because the certainty you seek is not attainable. Finally, resolve that while you don’t know what will happen next week or next month, you do know that you are alive and well right now, and refuse to waste the gift of this day.”

To me, not wasting time means not wasting the opportunity to create something. So if we’re trying to write NOW for the theatre, are we writing for what theatre is now or sometime in the (hopefully not too distant) future?

Why can’t we do both?

There are many theatre makers who are working hard to keep the medium alive in any way they can — some more successfully than others.

Recently, I saw an online version of a play that had been scheduled to be produced live by a professional company in upstate NY. It was a traditional comedy/mystery, and I could see how a production of this piece could be an audience pleaser. However, all the stage business (and there was quite a lot) had to be narrated. We saw eight talking heads, some not involved in particular scenes, so it was distracting. The person reading stage directions was also one of the actors (also distracting). Finally, it was just too difficult to stare at a little screen containing even smaller screens.

Right now we have screens and people on screens, so let’s write for them, and not pretend we’re all in a theatre. A recent example of this is Richard Nelson’s What Do We Need To Talk About? The Apple Family: Conversations on Zoom produced by the Public Theatre, (which was available for streaming through June 28).

Furthermore, while most of us are sheltering at home due to the pandemic, there are many thousands of people who were homebound before the current crisis, for a variety of reasons. Largely out of necessity to connect with medical professionals, friends, and family, these folks are getting accustomed to using the internet. While I’m sure everyone prefers the option of being “up close and personal,” this current situation will hopefully result in more consideration for people who don’t have that option, pandemic or not.

I don’t like to think that online-only is the future of theatre. I’ll continue to write for in-person gatherings, but I’m also trying my hand at creating specifically for this new medium and perhaps find a new audience.