In The Age of COVID, Streamed Theater Is The Way Forward

This week, I was lucky enough to watch the Second Stage live-stream of Lynn Nottage's "Clyde's" lying in my own bed. Except for a local production back in September, this is the first time I've "attended a live show" in over a year. Even though the experience of watching a play online is exponentially different than sitting in a theater, it felt good to be home. Unlike many on-demand or filmed theater pieces I've seen, Second Stage streams each show live with two or three cameras, meaning we hear the audience react and have access to the of-the-moment changes which makes live theater special (my show featured two understudies, both terrific). It's a fabulous move for Second Stage, one I hope more companies will copy.

Before the show started, the camera rested on the full auditorium. My first thought, "I wish I could be there," was followed immediately by the realization that I would never feel safe at a busy New York theater. Not now, when Omicron is spreading like wildfire, and maybe not for a long time either.

I don't quite know how to digest this information. In my adult life, I have spent countless hours watching and helping create theater. But now, I don't feel safe in what used to be my safe space. I don't disparage the people who still attend, as long as they’re vaccinated and masked. Life is a balance of risk and reward. But it wouldn't be worth it – or even enjoyable – for me. I know theater companies are regularly testing and that getting COVID-19 is an evitability at this point rather than something avoidable by caution. I know the risk of serious illness is low with vaccines and boosters.

But for me, the truth is that, while live theater is my favorite form of entertainment, one that makes me immensely happy in both being an audience member and a creative, is it just that: entertainment, a creative outlet. Unlike many friends and colleagues, theater is not my job. I have a regular 9-5 and make theater when I feel the need and the time is right; I sign up as an OnStage critic to review shows when I am able and go as a regular audience member as often as I can. But it is not essential. Two hours of delightful diversion is not worth the price of potential infection, whether that's a regular week-long flu-grade illness or the small-but-possible risk of developing long Covid symptoms; the tiny percentage of being hospitalized, or the chance of passing it on to an older relative. Not being scared to die of Covid is different than putting myself at higher risk to get it. A small percentage is still a percentage. I couldn't bear tracing the start of a bad situation to me wanting to see a play. Perhaps I'm in the minority, although I know plenty of people will agree.

What's even more painful about being in this spot – beyond missing out on all the shows I would normally have seen – is the creeping feeling that this somehow lets my theater community down. They are brave and supportive; I am needlessly fearful -- the 2022 equivalent of wiping down your groceries. Performers and theater professionals will never get back to work if there aren't willing audience members. I want to support those that have struggled so much during the pandemic. I want live theater to be back and for them to have jobs. But as Broadway continues to scramble, closing early and relying on under-rehearsed understudies (including past cast members flown in from across the country), I can't help but wonder if it's all worth it. At least the way it currently is.

That is why "Clyde's" gave me hope. I know there's a collected exasperated sigh when the term "streamed theater" is brought up. We're all Zoomed out. But it's a lifeline and, if done right, can really unlock the future of theater. The failure to embrace digital theater is less about fatigue and more about creative failure or the ability to dismantle the status quo. The discussions now shouldn't just be "how can we test more effectively to keep things going as they were before" but "how can we adapt."

There is no clear way forward but many possible, valid paths. There is the route that Second Stage takes, offering both in-person seats and live-streams. There is the pro-shoot concept, where theater companies film a show with or without a live audience and offer it on-demand to ticketholders. Besides doing this on Broadway – like "Come From Away" and the much maligned-yet-loved "Diana" – many regional and community theaters have used this format. There's the world of theater-film hybrids; theater pieces filmed on locations using small crews. Works like Out Of The Box's "Last Five Years," The Other Palace lock-down "Songs For A New World" or the BroadwayHD versions of "Title of Show" and "First Date." And then we have all the Zoom or Streamyard-type theater that was a mainstay in early quarantine.

A whole separate article could, and should, be written about the complicated struggle of pricing virtual tickets. Regular streamed tickets to "Clyde's" costs $59, which is expensive for a virtual show yet $70 cheaper than the average in-person ticket, especially since a family can watch for one sum. Second Stage does offer $25-$35 tickets for students and those under 30. Pricing for such an event often feels like a no-win situation; go too low and it's not cost-effective for the theater company, especially after investing in the personnel and equipment needed for live streaming. Go too high and it feels like a rip-off and elitist. The sweet spot for most professional and semi-professional groups seems to be somewhere in the $20-$30 range. As someone who wants to support the arts and has drastically decreased the money usually spent on entertainment over the last two years, $59 didn't seem personally exorbitant, although I know it would be for many.

Having an alternative for regular, in-person theater is the only way to continue safely. It will allow companies to keep attendance low without losing numbers and lessen the risks of spreading illness. But it also means a much wider viewership and can hype up the shows currently running. “Clyde’s” would not have been the first show I would gravitate towards had I been in the city for one day, yet I’m glad the stream offered me a chance to see it. Audience members are not limited to people in the New York tri-state area. With bigger virtual audiences, you can offer more reasonably priced tickets. You don't need a driver's license or babysitter. It provides alternatives for physically disabled people who can't easily get to the theater, not to mention that pre-recorded media can easily be captioned, interpreted or audio described.

We know that live-streamed or recorded won't stop people from attending in person. Tickets sales to "Hamilton" increased after the Disney+ film came out. That’s not even taking into account how a whole generation of theater-makers say they were first inspired by the PBS broadcasts of “Into The Woods” and “Sunday In The Park With George.” But we also don't necessarily need a multi-million-dollar pro-shoot either. If you placed a single camera at the stage for any current Broadway shows, I guarantee people would be thrilled.

As a theater-maker, I can tell you firsthand how incredibly fun and rewarding it can be. I spent the first half of '21 making a musical version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" set during quarantine. We filmed about 50% of it over Zoom, 25% with a green screen, and 25% in a single location with an iPhone. During the entire process, there were never more than five people in the same room. It was a monumental challenge but also the most creatively fulfilling and fun project I've ever worked on. We had a whole new bag of tricks to play, a whole new framework around which to spark ideas and tell a well-worn story in a new way.

It's scary to look at old institutions differently. It was daunting for a group of theater people to try making a film with very limited resources. It's daunting for the theater industry to have to reinvent itself. But at this point, it seems an inevitability. I know this isn't easy. Companies will have to invest in new technology and licensing companies need to be involved. We need sites like BroadwayHD to step up to the plate and become the go-to spot for such events. We need creativity.

But if there's one thing the theater industry has in bucketloads, it's creativity.