Theater in quarantine: How intimate art survives long-distance

Illustration by Ian D. Loomis | Washtenaw Voice

By Ian D. Loomis
Staff Writer

Theater is remarkably the most stubbornly adaptable of media, per the phrase repeated ad nauseam: “the show must go on.” However, amid bankruptcies, blackouts, and most strikingly, the current pandemic, commercial theater has found quickly snowballing obstacles in the path to bouncing back. Live performances are intimate, but for all the emotions they provoke, such intimacy is very dangerous in these times. People have instead sheltered into their living rooms, binging dramas or making their own little home theaters, as exemplified by the release of “Hamilton” for streaming earlier this year.

There is something lost in the absence of live theater, and the persevering online drama courses around the country are a symbol of theater trying to adapt yet again. Diane Hill, artistic director at the local Theatre Nova, is one of many curators for a play festival over Zoom — 15 plays were selected to be performed live via the online meeting app, and much thought has gone into their selection. “The plays,” says Hill, “are chosen for how they embrace the new platform. We’re far enough into quarantine to recognize situations like online calls as regular, and we can appreciate the little glimpses of quirks that make up quarantine life.” Hill feels confident about the portrayal of these plays over a digital medium, and that the magic of theater — as there’s no other word for it — will stay.

Even the theatre director here at WCC, Tracy Jaffe, has spent the summer evolving Washtenaw’s acting programs by involving herself in improv classes to understand the new challenges that will face students these coming terms, and how those challenges can become opportunities for new and impressive theater. This new medium, according to Jaffe, allows for “emotional intimacy, in the way that you can read the subtlety on the actors’ faces.” The most thrilling part of the return of live theater to her is its ephemerality. “That’s what makes theater unique,” said Jaffe, “is you’re not watching a recording. Watching a show again will never be the exact same.” It’s what we’ve been missing while rewatching cult classic films and our favorite Netflix series.

Theater, as its motto proclaims, “must go on,” and it’s not going away anytime soon. It will keep evolving to suit our needs and to entertain. According to Jaffe, “theatre has such power, it’ll be a never-ending wrestling match to bring it down.”