John Yang is back to take us to one regional company in rural Virginia that hopes it's found a way for the show go on, safely.
It's part of our ongoing American Creators series on rural arts and Canvas, our coverage of arts and culture.
Friday, October 09, 2020
At this Virginia theater, the show -- and the masks -- must go on
John Yang is back to take us to one regional company in rural Virginia that hopes it's found a way for the show go on, safely.
It's part of our ongoing American Creators series on rural arts and Canvas, our coverage of arts and culture.
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12 comments:
First off this is such a cool performance space. I am so glad that PBS decided to feature America Shakespeare Center. One reason why I feel like this is affordable and doable is that the texts are in the public domain and so royalties are not a financial issue. I think also it works because the company has created a bubble using their company housing. I know a lot of plays haven’t been allowed to be done virtually because of streaming rights and doing works in the public domain work around this. (I am always surprised that playwrights can afford to refuse rights of shows right now. Honestly, I am confused when playwrights and rights companies don’t allow their show to be streamed especially during the pandemic.). Something that I think also makes this company work is that they have a non-union company so they haven’t had to deal with the whole AEA mess that currently continuing on this time between SAG and AEA and not AEA and management.
To hear the comment about small- and even mid-sized theatre companies not being able to put off performances any longer hit my emotions very hard, but not surprisingly. To be faced with the reality that many people in small towns will have to see their loved theatres close is a saddening thought. Like one of the audience members that was interviewed, I was moved to see a live performance. The detail of the safety precautions during production and run of the show was impressive, though I do think that there a few factors that may have made it easier. Universal lighting and no sound amplification cut a lot of production work and allow those people to stay out of harm's way, as it were. Daily symptom checks and housing isolation is the bare minimum for something like this, as depressing as it sounds. I think that one of the best ideas for the general public, though, is giving the actors the ability to stop the show and call out audience members not wearing their mask. All-in-all, I hope that this theatre continues to find success in their shows going forward.
This is one of the first instances of live performance coming back that hasn't made me super anxious – which I think is because of the testimony of the players in the ensemble voicing how compliant to safety regulations and community centered they have been throughout the process. I would be interested in hearing if the production team felt the same way, and how they operated. Creating the dual modality of both indoor and outdoor performance is quite commendable, but makes a little more sense in the context of a Shakespeare doing performances in a historically accurate recreation of the Blackfriars playhouse. Since Shakespeare performances didn't originally have really any scenery, minimal props, and universal lighting (plus the Globe was an open air theatre) that kind of makes it simple to be able to sink into those roots technically and have this dual modality. Also, I love the removable chairs in the audience seating banks.
I think McSweeney’s comparison of COVID-19 to water is really interesting. His phrasing that big theatres can afford to let the wave pass and that small theatres have to ride it out in hopes of not sinking is just perfect. Regarding the American Shakespeare Center’s pandemic plan, I am surprised that they have not had any cases yet. Good for them, but I am reasonably shocked because they are not even a singular cohort. The actors are not bubbled off and come into contact with one another maskless which sounds problematic on its own, but they also come into contact with a different group of people as an audience too which is worse. As a side note, to tack onto their play options, I have read both Othello and Twelfth Night and they are legitimately my two favorite Shakespeare plays. So I, who has no say in the matter but will express this anyway, approve of their show choices.
I think that the videos that are shedding light on these smaller theatre programs are doing a great thing for not only those theatre programs but the industry as a whole. This small theatre program is in Stanton, VA which is not too far from my hometown here in Virginia. It is awesome to see theatre able to happen safely without the masks and as normal as possible. In my hometown we have had a couple of shows going on however they are performed in 6ft squares, with masks on, and streamed for an audience. I think it was amazing that this video brought up the fact that larger theatre programs have the liberty to wait and put on productions after this pandemic but the smaller programs are currently hurting and have to do anything they can to gain a profit and keep their cast and crew safe. I think it is amazing that these performances can be indoor or outdoors as that allows many people to see it without an intense fear of catching the virus as they can properly social distance. I do want to hear more about how they are keeping their actor's safe as the video did not seem to mention any sort of daily testing or covid screenings. I do think that this is a huge step forward and I hope more theaters can do this soon and safely.
This was a great article to read and I feel this specific company could really serve as a blueprint for what smaller theaters can do. First of all, it is a great point to bring up that smaller theaters need to start making money again, and can not continue to ride out this wave like some larger theaters might be able to do. Second, Jessika Williams made an excellent point, that in putting on live theater or attending live theater, there is now an inherent risk. In everything we do now, there is inherent risk, and it is up to each individual what risks they are willing to take for themselves and for their community. I think this theater is doing so many things correctly, from having everyone live in isolation housing, to being extremely strict about mask wearing and social distancing within their audience. I am incredibly optimistic to be seeing live, in-person theater return and I am excited to see what happens in the coming months.
It is heartwarming to see live theater make a return in such a safe and precautious way. I love that they have found a way to make it work, using socially distanced audience seating and company-provided "bubble" housing. The different difficulties that the actors described are some that I'm sure not one of them ever thought they would have to deal with in their careers - yet here they are, keeping tabs on audience members' mask status and having to find other body gestures/cues in audience members to gauge reactions because of how they are not able to depend on smiles and laughs anymore. I find it interesting that this theater is one of the only/first theaters to reopen like this, especially in the outdoor setting; I believe that can be contributed to the fact that Shakespeare is public domain and they don't have to worry about all of the contract struggles that still exist with streaming (too many rights-owning companies are still denying virtual performances of shows). I hope that other theaters will be able to learn from the amazing progress this group has made and allow live theater to return!
At first, I was uneasy seeing the actors unmasked on stage, but after hearing about how they are under strict quarantine protocols, that is a lot more reassuring. It is reassuring to know that they live together, only interact with each other, and I assume they are not allowed to go to any events or leave their spaces much. Still, it is a little jarring to see that after so long. When the one woman talked about being emotional when she saw the performance, it made me recognize just how much I miss live theater too. I don’t know how I feel about this method of performance being promoted everywhere yet, especially in high risk areas, but I anticipate the return of live theater, even if it has to be in this socially-distanced method. At least, I think reading masked reactions will be something to adjust to for the long term, because I see masks being used for a long time to come.
The article brings to light the work and dedication of a small regional theatre company in rural Virginia that decided that if they had any chance of survival during the pandemic, they would have to formulate the safest way possible to do it for their audience and performers. I was really inspired by the interview with the artistic director of the theatre company, Ethan McSweeny,when he said that larger organizations can wait out the pandemic and then comeback to reopen but smaller organizations like his are not provided that privilege and as a result they had to try everything to stay afloat. I was impressed by the protocols that they put into place that changed the rehearsal and production process vastly. They made the performers quarantine for 2 weeks and rehearse on zoom, then they came to in person rehearsals with mask and then they slowly started taking masks off. They also have company paid housing that the performers need to live in during the run of the production, which I imagine must incur a great cost on the Theatre company. I agree with Alexanders point that because this Virginia regional theater hires non-union performers, they do not have to deal with the AEA mess between SAG and AEA, and they don’t have to follow all of the specific union rules which allowed them to put up this production. I really think that other regional theatre companies should pay attention to what this company is doing to survive the pandemic because it can be replicated at smaller theaters all over the country and make sure that not only the large and rich theatre companies survive this nightmare.
I think that this article was fairly inspiring for the reopening of theatre across america. I think it is interesting during this pandemic that we usually look to broadway for guidance and set an example for everyone else. In the case of reopening theatres in america during the pandemic I believe that it is going to be the opposite. We are going to be looking at the smallest theatres first and their actions and protocols will influence mid sized theatre and then the larger theaters. I think in our conditions allow theatre to be more possible on a small scale and having the least amount of people involved. I have seen a lot of theatres from my hometown that are doing one person shows for their entire season. I think this helps alot with worrying about the logistics of having performers on stage and thinking about their health having to be around each other unmasked. I think at this point we need to be brainstorming the ways to create theatre during the pandemic and learning to deal with the situation instead of trying to wait it out.
I really like how PBS is spreading how this companies efforts and showing how they are working together to make sure that they can still create and performer during covid. While watching this video it to some degree makes me think why aren’t other companies trying but they are. Everyone trying their own approach to opening back up during a pandemic and this works for this company. Sadly one of my first thoughts was ohh I guess they can do this sort of bubble and rehearsal regulations because they aren’t apart of the union and while the union is doing great work to protect its members during these times its not making companies of this size produce work. I think the artistic director nailed on the head when he talked about how important it was for a company of this size to produce work right now, outside donations and funding is going to be enough for everyone, ultimately its probably not enough for anyone really. Which is why it's so important to look at how companies can get back to producing work.
Being from Virginia, I didn’t even need to click the article to know which theatre was being mentioned, so I am unsurprised an unamused to see it is the American Shakespeare Center. I understand that the smaller and mid-sized theatres are getting zero support from the trump administration and therefore are facing hardships, but I really do think that theatres conduction indoor performances are quite irresponsible. The actors need to be masked. There is no excuse. It doesn’t matter how well they have quarantined. It doesn’t matter if they took their time before taking their masks off. This is largely irresponsible and should not be tolerated. Costumes should have made custom masks for their performers. You can’t always tell who is carrying the virus without symptoms, and it is insane to me to allow a live audience into the theatre while actors aren’t masked. I think this is incredibly disrespectful, and it is a gamble that is not worth it.
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