BY SEBASTIAN SAMUR As the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded, the precarity of the performing arts globally has become increasingly highlighted. Despite many cities allowing performance organizations to open, there remain significant limitations. Performance companies cannot open overnight the way many businesses can as they operate with longer timelines that work around programming and rehearsal schedules. These difficulties are compounded by the limitations placed on those companies that may attempt to open - notably requirements to social distance audiences and provide other safety measures. As a result, some companies, such as Canadian Stage in Toronto, have already moved to replace the Fall season with online programming, despite potentially being able to ‘open’. Many performance companies have adapted to COVID-19 by moving online, attempting to use alternative performance venues, or by using the extra time to prepare for the following year. This has led to a number of innovations, involving live-performance, regular online access to previously recorded works, online touring and events, or adapted outdoor spaces.
This has been the case for the collectives involved in my current doctoral research. SITI Company, based in New York, has replaced some of their training workshops with shortened online versions. They have also begun ‘SITI Socials,’ which are online chat groups to discuss, among other topics, challenges related to COVID-19. Dairakudakan, based in Tokyo, is currently adapting their summer workshop, which will still take place, but with modified conditions (including no international applicants). They have also given a number of performative interviews with Maison de la Culture Japonaise in Paris (see links below). Mime Omnibus, based in Montreal, have opted to use the extra time off to plan for a stronger season next year. These are but some of the many adaptations we are currently witnessing in the performing arts. While there are many significant drawbacks to COVID-19 in performance, there is also a new set of skills being honed. Below are some links to news stories that capture some of the various challenges and adaptations taking place, organized by date: Theaters Switch to Online Streaming - March 17, 2020 Reflections from Anne Bogart on COVID-19 - Monthly from March 27, 2020 Broadway Closes - April 20, 2020 Adapting to Online Theatre Training Classes - April 28, 2020 ‘Frozen’ the Musical Closes Permanently Due to COVID-19 - May 15, 2020 A Post by Artists Against a Purely Digital Reopening After COVID-19 - May 15, 2020 Performing Companies Adapting to Help During the Pandemic - May 15, 2020 Considerations Regarding Reopening Theatres - May 16, 2020 Performance Adaptations in Quebec - May 16, 2020 Imagining Post-Pandemic Performance - May 19, 2020 The Montreal Fringe Festival Goes Virtual - June 11, 2020 Outdoor Performance Adaptations in BC - June 23, 2020 Building a Roadmap to Recovery - June 26, 2020 Broadway Closure Extended to January, 2021 - June 29, 2020 Performative Interview with Dairakudakan Members 1 - July, 2020 Performative Interview with Dairakudakan Members 2 - July, 2020 Performative Interview with Dairakudakan Members 3- July, 2020 Outdoor Adaptations in the UK - July 20, 2020 CanStage Programming Adaptation for Summer and Fall 2020 - July 22, 2020 Adapted Venue Reopenings in the UK - July 23, 2020 Outdoor Adaptations in Newfoundland - July 25, 2020 Outdoor Theatre for Young Audiences in Toronto - July 28. 2020 Theatre Venue Layoffs Due to COVID-19 in the UK - July 30, 2020 The Kabuki-Za Reopens With Masks/Social Distancing On-Stage - Aug 1, 2020 Outdoor Theatre in Montreal - Aug 2, 2020 Amazon Prime Donates to Emergency Theatre Fund - Aug 13, 2020 Jillian Keiley Writes about the Isolated Artist - Aug 13, 2020 Stand-Up Comedy Behind Plexiglas - Aug 18, 2020 Broadway Workers Struggling with Unemployment - Aug 19, 2020 Stand-Up Comedy Audiences Encouraged to Laugh Less - Aug 21, 2020 Germany Conducting COVID-19 Tests in Concerts - Aug 22, 2020 COVID-19 and the Edinburgh Fringe - Aug 23, 2020 Fines for Illegal Rave Organisers - Aug 23, 2020 James Bond composer David Arnold says music industry on 'precipice' - Aug 30, 2020 West End musicals: Socially-distanced shows reveal reopening plans - Sept 14, 2020 Dr. Fauci on the Return of Theatre - Sept 15, 2020 Princess of Wales Theatre is set to re-open with a detailed pandemic plan and a pertinent play about an outbreak - Oct. 8, 2020 Dallas theater production abruptly shuts down due to COVID-19 spread - Oct. 8, 2020 Stage Vs. Screen Becomes a Union Battleground - Oct. 8, 2020 Comments are closed.
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