Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Femina Ferox

Home
Catholic
Theater Doesn’t Matter During a Pandemic, and That’s Okay.

Theater Doesn’t Matter During a Pandemic, and That’s Okay.

Last updated on: July 30, 2020 at 10:20 am by Emily Claire Schmitt

Theater Doesn’t Matter During a Pandemic, and That’s Okay. 2020-07-30T10:20:15-04:00 Emily Claire Schmitt

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo by Vlah Dumitru on Unsplash

Theater is a lagging art form. Unlike music, crafts, and dance, theater does not take root in a society until it reaches a certain level of stability. As my undergrad theater history professor somewhat flippantly, but very effectively explained, “If you’re being chased by a bear you don’t stop and make a play.” We’re not exactly being chased by bears in summer 2020, but the general premise still applies. We’re not running, we’re hiding. And while isolation is a fantastic environment for writing a novel or composing a symphony, it’s impossible for theater.

Theater artists don’t matter right now, and that’s okay.

Reassessing The Art of Assembly

Back in April, I wrote a response to Nicholas Berger’s The Forgotten Art of Assembly, in which he argued that theater artists should stop making during the pandemic. I insisted that, while his argument was compelling, there was plenty of innovative and creative work theater artists could develop while in isolation. I then proceeded to create some of that work. It wasn’t very good. Even this blog, which was originally intended to to focus on life as a playwright in New York, shifted to more immediate issues: sexuality, spirituality, anxiety, TV reviews, weddings. Essentially, I wrote about anything other than my work in theater, because my work in theater hasn’t been relevant since March.

It turns out Berger was right. The one thing that makes theater great isn’t the live element or the creative problem-solving or the experimentalism. Theater is great because of immediacy. Because you can experience a direct relationship with the performer. Because we’re together. There’s nothing like assembly.

Theater is Reflective

Theater, unlike poetry and music, is a reflective art form. That means that time is required between the thing that is being explored and the exploration. You can write a song about being in love while you are in love. You can’t write a play about the relationship until after it is over. I learned this in graduate school, and I believed it to be true. But when the pandemic hit, I forgot it. This was a mistake. Because nothing of quality can be written about what we are experiencing right now until we know how it plays out and we have time to interpret and gain insight.

Theater Matters, Just Not Right Now

My initial resistance to Berger’s thesis was natural. Theater artists have a perpetual chip on our shoulders. It’s not just entertainment, we insist, it’s culture. It’s ART. As if the word art alone were justification for anything. I’ve spent hours trying to explain to family members that there’s more to what I do than creating various iterations of Mama Mia! for them to dance to. So when I was told we didn’t matter, I became defensive. But the truth is, right now, no one needs playwrights. We need doctors and policy makers and religious leaders. We need music, movies, and television.

But there will come a time – who knows how long from now – when we need playwrights again. Because someone is going to have to look back at this time and make sense of it. Someone is going to have to reflect on and interpret this era and integrate it with cultural narrative. Someone is going to tell our stories and we, as a society, will have to assemble in order to process and grieve together. This ritual has always been essential to society. But only after the bear is dead.

About Emily Claire Schmitt

Emily Claire Schmitt is a playwright and screenwriter focused on uncovering the mystical in the modern world. She is a Core Member of The Skeleton Rep(resents) and is currently developing an original movie with The Hallmark Channel. Follow her on Twitter at @Eclaire082. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

July 27, 2020

Coping with Scrupulosity During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Next Post

August 3, 2020 Damien of Molokai, Patron Saint of Divesting Oneself of Privilege

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 August 2018 January 2018 December 2017 August 2017 February 2017 January 2017 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 January 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What animal was often used for sacrifice?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Goat Lamb Ox Dove