The Washington Post: For actress Sharlene Cruz and the rest of the team birthing “Sanctuary City,” it was as if the whole run of the play occurred in the space of an hour and 45 minutes.
“It felt like today was opening night and closing night,” Cruz said, receiving congratulations — but few hugs — from an invited audience that had been seated at safe distances from one another. The New York Theatre Workshop’s performance itself was special: a hastily arranged, covid-19-inspired filming at off-Broadway’s Lucille Lortel Theatre on Friday of a new play by Martyna Majok, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2018 for “Cost of Living.”
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It is so gut-wrenching to hear and read about the various theatrical productions that are being cancelled or postponed indefinitely. It is especially hard for the artists that are trying to break out onto Broadway or into theater with their new shows. Even having a limited seating showing, that functions as both opening night and closing night, leaves the designers and producers feeling almost let down after their hard work to create the show, like with the new show, Sanctuary City. Sanctuary City was written by an up and coming playwright, Martyna Majok, who won a Pulitzer Prize for another work of hers in 2018. The show was not cancelled, but it had a limited audience for its opening night in order to maintain the social distancing that has become the norm during the pandemic. It is interesting that many shows that cancelled their in-person shows are filming a run and providing it to the public to watch. Signature Theater in Arlington is doing that, but only for those who bought tickets to see the sold-out show. I think it is a great use of technology and resources to adapt to the present challenges that the pandemic brings, but it is hard for the people who worked on the show. I feel like for them, it is a lot less satisfaction than an actual in-person show.
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