What Will Become of Us?
Let’s reframe this site… Heres’s the lens through which I view everything I see, hear, or experience from now on:
I have been gone for a while, and I think about the tragedy of live theatre nearly every day. What will it look like when it comes back? Will it be exactly as it was before? Will it be different beyond recognition? Which is the lesser of these two evils?
Whether this transition to “normal” be a change in thought (our perception of theatre, our waning rationale for the existence of theatre and its often lecherous institutions) or a change in actions (institutions dramatically changing their missions, hiring practices, seasons, ways in which they think about creating live, in-person works), something will have changed. As of right now, I am in fear. I am in fear so much for America that I’m leaving the country in the Fall.
While I was gone, I had a tough decision to make. New York: the home I have known for the last four years— the place that has given me invaluable experiences and lessons that I will carry with me forever, or London? A new frontier. Nothing but new opportunities, more opportunities. A country that values the arts in ways that simply aren’t comparable to that of the US. And this isn’t the fault of American artists. Not at all. It’s the (I know, I know I sound like a cliche, but it really is!) fault of the capitalistic structures we were born into. It’s the systems that make it nearly impossible for even a Broadway show to break even, even if it’s at full capacity almost every night. It’s the systems that make labor cheap and the idea of “slowly working your way up the ladder” acceptable. Even so, I am ever so grateful for this imperfect system. It has taught me to be patient, tough, persistent, and most importantly, it has taught me to advocate for myself.
What will the future of theatre look like? I don’t know. What will the future of American artists look like? I don’t know. Will I be in this country to see it? That depends…
If anxiety about the future of theatre is a topic that consumes you as much as it consumes me, I highly recommend these upcoming conferences:
