Wednesday, December 09, 2020
The Ableist Effects of Creating “Post-Pandemic Theatre” During a Pandemic
HowlRound Theatre Commons: When theatre houses around the world shuttered their doors back in March, we were all devastated. We watched our entire community lose everything from their income and health insurance to university admissions and even visa opportunities. Manhattan traded twinkling lights for refrigerated trucks. We stayed inside. We grieved.
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One of the best things to come out of 2020 is that when all events that distracted us were ended, people were forced to be alone with their thoughts. People who have been shouting for ages to change things have started to be heard and entire industries are changing. They may be ponderous but they are moving.
The switch to an online medium brought accessibility of new and amazing content to so many people. The works allowed new voices to shine and democratized the entertainment industry to spread among the people who have always wanted to try something new. The people who wanted to make new theatre were practically giving it away to an unlimited audience. This also worked for people who wanted to enjoy theatre but never could for any number of reasons.
This could be the new normal! We could start making content available to everyone for lower cost and with a lower quality of experience (If I'm forced to choose between a lower quality and NO access at all, I know which one I would choose). We could continue to make access to theatre possible to everyone, knowing full well that people with the money and means will still choose to see events live.
People who are immunocompromised or who have mobility concerns have benefited from the current state of the industry as much as anyone. If we rush to go back to how things were before Covid, we risk leaving them behind. We need to make sure that when we can return to in-person events that we are bringing everyone with us.
Are theatre companies businesses, yes. We need to make sure that money is not the sole focus of these places though.
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