Managing the Impact of the Pandemic

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Emika Abe and Sarah Williams are managing directors who each started their first executive leadership roles at regional theatres only the autumn before COVID-19 kickstarted a weekslong shutdown across the United States—Emika at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC, and Sarah at California Shakespeare Theater in the San Francisco Bay Area. As the manager of the Press Play Digital Theatre Initiative at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, and a former coworker of Emika’s, I was curious about how their experience managing the impact of the pandemic has shaped their views on art in virtual spaces, leadership amidst crisis, and the future of the American theatre.