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First Blog Post - Cassidy

 I was very intrigued by the Osborne journal article. I remember learning about the Federal Theatre Project in high school but hadn't thought about the applications to our current world. I was instantly reminded of what happened in my community when the pandemic hit. The community theater delayed - then ultimately cancelled there production of Matilda due to it. The dance studio I worked at and took classes at closed its doors forever. And all my close friends at home were struggling. The arts were their livelihoods and without them, they had little income and resorted to picking up other jobs around town. But now, three years into the pandemic, I wonder how this author's perspective may have changed. The arts are resuming and while I don't think they are at the same income level as before, they are slowly being repaired. My local community theater has changed a lot in the shows and voices it is prioritizing. Similar to that of Osborne's proposal, they are highlighting the voices of BIPOC, women, and LGBT individuals. And I think that change is partially due to the pandemic making us take a moment to stop and reassess our values. It's still not perfect. For one, the voices of disabled people still haven't been showcased there. But it seems like a lot of what Osborne has proposed for a Green Theater Project is slowly happening on its on in some places. I also was curious about creative ways the arts approached "coming out of the pandemic" for lack of better words. One thing that came to mind was a summer camp I helped with at my local community theater this last summer. While people were allowed to fill the house to half capacity, we also live streamed the show. That camp dealt with its own fair share of COVID issues including over half of the campers being sent home just a couple days before the show due to contracting COVID and the other half had to pick up there parts. The photo below is of them with one of the workshop guest artists - the set designer for Friends who I will unfortunately say was homophobic and sexist, but this is one of the few images I have of them on the stage. The use of technology now sets our time apart from the Federal Theater Project and I am interested in learning more about how technology and the arts can be used together to help regrow the arts in the US.




Comments

  1. Lindsay Adamson LivingstonFebruary 7, 2023 at 11:44 AM

    These are great points, Cassidy--I DO think we've seen a shift in how many theatres are thinking about their identities and place in the community after the upheavals we've experienced with covid. What do you think might help theatres continue and expand those efforts? How might performance activism help theatres themselves think more broadly about access--including more programming that highlights and features disabled artists? Is there room for both increased funding from the state and continued improvement in these areas?

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