Theatre | The Guardian: Last summer, the Observer profiled a group of newly-appointed artistic directors – a fresh surge of talent taking its place at the top of six of our best-loved theatre companies. A notably diverse cohort, they were bursting with optimism and ideas for shaking up the industry. Our theatre critic Susannah Clapp, introducing the new talent, looked forward to seeing how they would transform the theatrical landscape – with the caveat that “it is hard, though, to guess what changes will be wrought”.
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The pandemic has proven devastating for the theater industry in particular. An industry which thrives on live performance and audiences in person has now been reduced to a lower numbers and virtual performances, which are not the worst, but they definitely do not carry the charm that these live performances used to carry back when everything was normal.
But it is was a great feeling reading about how theater professionals are still being hopeful about how this might all turn out to be and that they are ready to do whatever it takes to get the industry into functioning the way it used to, once the opportunity arises.
There is no doubt that once all these theaters reopen, there is going to be a different feeling and experience attached to it, but maybe that is how it is meant to be. And who knows, maybe the changes might not feel out of place at all, especially after going through a whole pandemic which stresses on the need to be socially distant.
This article's headline makes me so happy. I love seeing that leadership is positive about a year that no one expected and full of economic loss. I think a positive outlook is the only way people will get out what will be years of recovery to come. This actual article makes me really sad. All these artistic directors seem to be bummed and stuck. It is sad to see that these companies are only looking at returning back to in-person events as the solution to “plugging the hole in the bucket”. I also dislike that this article talks about theatres that can’t socially distant returns are stuck in a waiting game because, in fact, digital content creation could end this waiting game. Just look at how 1 million people watched London’s National Theatre production of Jane Eyre and 2.5 million people watched One Man, Two Guvnors, the later only brought in 50,000 Pounds. (These numbers are according to the Atlantic Article “Why London’s National Theatre Is Hooking Online Viewers”) Imagine if theatres weren’t scared of monetizing virtual events – if everyone paid 1 dollar from two shows that are 3.5 million pounds. (That is a lot more than the 50,000 Pounds they made. It is sad to read an artistic leader (Lynette Linton) talks about the limitations of Zoom. Yes, virtual isn’t the same as in-person but it seems like Linton is limiting herself in this idea that Zoom can’t foster connect (or rather that a virtual experience can’t have a connection). We need to be creative!!!!! Aren’t we artists? Now is the time to actually make a difference because we get to redefine art right now. It was cool reading about how some artistic directors are trying to adopt Anti-Racist Policies even if their attitudes toward digital words are pessimistic. I see sorta what Reesha means about some of these people's hopeful attitudes but I didn't really get those vibes.
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