HowlRound Theatre Commons: As an art form conceived around the act of the encounter, physical proximity, conviviality, and ritual, theatre has seen its very foundations shaken over the last six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here in Spain, theatres were forced to cease their functions on 14 March 2020, when President Pedro Sánchez decreed a state of emergency and stated that public institutions—theatres among them—must suspend all hiring initiatives.
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I have been so preoccupied with what is happening in the U.S. (from a theater perspective at least) that I really hadn’t considered the situations internationally, which is why this article was so interesting. The expectations given to Boceta would have discouraged someone like me from even undertaking the project, but from the sound of it - this production may be setting a new standard for theatrical pandemic experiences. I read one of the comments on this article and a line that stuck with me was how the reader was “struck by how the classics can ground the feelings so many share during the pandemic.” These classics have existed in our canon for so long, these classics have seen more than I have or ever will see. If there is something that will ground us within our own humanity, it will be these classics. The author of this article, Esther Fernández, wrote that “If this [pandemic] means we have had to rip apart classical texts to seek humanity and empathy in our desolation, then so be it.” During the pandemic we have become bored with so many things - we want new and exciting experiences, so despite what purists might say, it is to the benefit of the theater-goer to get to experience the classic but in a new way adapted for the digital world.
Esther Fernandez in her article discussing the state of Spanish theater prods at the question on every theatrical artist’s mind: “What is the role of theater right now?” In Spain, the opportunity for Zoom theater has offered a background for bringing classical theater pieces into a new light. David Boceta, a Spanish director, has reimagined what classic theater can be, creating his own new work that draws upon Spanish classics. This work “born from the pandemic” allows the audience to consider new things in a new light, and pushes everyone involved to absorb the play “In Another Strange Land” within the context of a pandemic. One of the most thought provoking parts of this article was the discussion of how an audience is viewing the actor and not just the character. With actors performing from their homes, audience members are given a glimpse into the actor themselves, not just the character on a stage. This undoubtedly forces the audience to consider not just who the character is, but who the actor is, and allows the audience and actors to be connected in a new way that was never possible in the physical theater setting. This new level of intimacy will certainly impact the future of the relationship between the audience and the performers.
I strongly agree with how it is a lot to ask for live theater to adapt to a digital world. There are many questions morally about the meaning of theater, and how key elements of it could be ripped away digitally. Living in the U.S., it is interesting to read about other countries. Through this lense of Hispanic theater, I find the discussion of contemporary versus classical theater intriguing. Their definition of classical is much different than America's broadway. I never thought about how moving things digitally may be minimizing the gap between these two genres of theater. In Spain, classical theater is reemerging thanks to the pandemic. In the United States, seeing how negatively this pandemic has affected our theater, I never would have thought that in another theater it could be helping it in this way. Of course, we are learning new ways to present theater digitally, but I never thought that it could bring back genres like it did in Spain.
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