Johanna Schall is a German director, based in the UK. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she was directing Der Nibelungen Wut - Furor Teutonicus for the Bremer Shakespeare Company. She has recently between working on her own writing and has also been collaborating with BMO Lab at the University of Toronto. Website Theatres in Germany experienced lockdowns to varying degrees throughout the pandemic and state subsidies provided some assistance to artists. In 2020, Johanna Schall was working on a piece she co-wrote with Grit van Dyk, Der Nibelungen Wut - Furor Teutonicus, and her group was forced to adapt their rehearsals. At times they worked online through zoom and at times in person (with and without masks, at the performers' discretion). With Zoom, the performers were mainly working on lines and going over character work. The software allowed artists in five different cities to continue working and to support each other socially and psychologically. However, she did note some technical issues:
"Zoom is not meant for theatre rehearsals...The tiles are different on everybody's computer...so you can't have eye contact, even pretend to have eye contact. You cannot speak over each other. You cannot sing together or make music...And I noticed that specifically for the very physical actors, it's very tiring sitting there staring at a computer...Two hours of Zoom and I'm done." She further noted that actors could be distracted as they can look directly at the director/audience. And zoom or filmic acting is also distinct from stage acting, as it does not carry the same risks as live performance. On working in-person with masks, Schall states: "We rehearsed with plastic masks and that was really hard because you can't see the faces as well, the sound changes because it's like an echo chamber. I couldn't do any lighting [due to reflections]." This ties in to some of the more visceral experiences that appeal in live performance. Schall continues: "I talk to friends and everybody's dreaming at the moment that he can touch again and spit and sweat and do all these things that are part of theatre." Schall's production was eventually staged in September 2020 for a limited capacity audience (80 out of 320). Audience members needed to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines. The experience was somewhat successful, though she did hear of the challenges for both actors and audiences in staging comedy under the limiting pandemic conditions. There is also some anxiety from older theatre, who may avoid attending performances out of caution. Overall, Schall remains positive: "I am terribly proud of us theatre-makers, how we try, as always, to make the best lemonade out of lemons." On the post-pandemic future of theatre: "If we survive, we will be different because it's an extreme experience that we're going through. But the basic basis of theatre has survived so many pestilences. I don't think that theatre in itself will totally change because of that. We as people will be different, so the theatre we are making will be different." --interviewed by Sebastian Samur Comments are closed.
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