The Theatre Times: Shernaz Patel holds on to the memory of the last time she set foot on stage, in early March this year in Australia, to perform The Siddhus of Upper Juhu. The world had yet to wake up to the brutality of COVID-19 at that point, and now, more than six months after theatres shut down due to lockdown, she reminisces: “I miss the smell of theatre.”
2 comments:
I read an article last week that talked about this in terms of the unions- it’s interesting to hear about the idea of filming live theater from an artistic perspective. I think it’s a smart move, given that full audiences are not a viable option right now. It adds an interesting layer of decisions, both logistically adding in cameras and angles and shots, as well as artistically: where are the actors looking and how is their body language and expressions being conveyed through the camera? There is a whole new dynamic that we are working with there that I think is super interesting, and could expand theater’s audiences' and abilities even after the pandemic passes. I’ve seen stuff put on by National Theater Live and Hamilton on Disney+, and watching theater through a camera is a very different experience. There is the ability to see the actors’ faces close up, and the camera chooses your point of focus for you instead of you having to choose for yourself. I look forward to seeing what happens with this in the future.
I think that Patel is correct in thinking that live theatre is here to stay. We are already seeing some evidence to this point through filmed musicals on Netflix, Disney+ and other similar streaming platforms. Musicals like Newsies and Hamilton have already shown that the filmed version of live theatre is possible and profitable. And with the added fact that it does not look like “normal” live theatre will be happening anything soon, filming productions seems the next most obvious answer. Patel is also smart to be starting off with plays that have already been done. The new experience of filming the plays is already going to be a challenge and it is smart for the company to not take on the added challenge of trying to put together new plays at the same time. The combination of both would be extremely difficult and is something that the company can work towards in the future.
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