The halls are empty, the lights dim, and the staircases have long forgotten the sound of footfalls. Silence lies heavily in the air with lingering ghosts of the past as its sole companion. Entertainment avenues in these times of the COVID – 19 pandemic starkly remind one of the haunted houses – grand, vacant, and soulless.
Long gone are the days of the magical allure of moving lights. Of actors baring their hearts and souls in front of a live audience, and the audience fascinated by the drama being enacted on the stage so much so, time itself stood still. Neither a word nor a sigh, as only magical awe travelled through the silence and its echo was as loud as anything could be. Ah! What a time it must have been to be alive.‘To be, or not to be’, the famous phrase from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet expresses the dilemma between the choice of life and death. To emote this feeling, this confusion to any other question is not a far-fetched thing. When it comes to theatre, theatre enthusiast or not, one is compelled to contemplate, if theatre is dying as a result of the pandemic or has it been fading slowly?
Be that as it may, it would be wrong to say, the novelty of theatre is long lost. Theatre, just like cinema excites people enthralling them with ‘lights, camera and action’, and the emotions of a living soul captured in the negative of a reel. The experience of watching it live with hundreds of others is beyond words. At the same time, it is crucial to realise the two distinguishing aspects of theatre – artistic and business. On the art front, theatre is and will, without doubt, forever evolve as it aids in understanding culture and society.
On the other hand, when it comes to the business aspect of theatre, the truth is half of the world population is still living in a world with stay-at-home requests to fight this pandemic. Although some countries are re-opening their businesses tentatively, theatres are still closed!
The stage is empty, the packed auditorium devoid of humans, the show has come to an end – or has it? Interestingly the very technology that breathed life into modern cinema has come to the rescue. Performances that were once limited only to live audience members are now being streamed globally with the help of technology. In this age of OTT video platforms like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime and more theatre artists and production companies have gone online!
Concerts are being live-streamed with the performances being held in empty auditoriums. Shakespeare’s Globe, a world-renowned Shakespearean art performing venue in London, is one such example. They have been live-streaming six of their popular plays on YouTube for free since the announcement of lockdown. More recently, ‘Barcelona Opera’ in Spain reopened in June after an almost three-month lockdown with an audience of 2,292 plants while the human audience was invited via a live stream. This trend of concerts being live-streamed might continue for quite some time. Closer home, with unlock being rolled out in phases cinema halls are gradually planning on the release of movies with safe distancing, however, it might be sometime before theatres begin re-opening. In the meantime, pre-recorded plays continue being telecasted online on entertainment websites like Bookmyshow.
Nevertheless, change is inevitable. And with theatre embracing change and artists exploring ways to share creatively, strengthens the faith that theatre after all, is not a dying form. On the contrary, it is a fountain of relief from this make-believe world.
Perhaps the post-COVID world might usher in a new medium for theatre viewings. Nevertheless, theatre is a living legacy and will continue to be forever. Likewise, yes, just like all theatre enthusiasts I too can’t wait for the halls to be reopened and experience the magic of live theatre again.
Originally Written on: July 15, 2020
Photo Credit: NYCastings.com
