My first story after the theaters shut down in 2020 reminded us that the London playhouses shut down for eighteen years during the Interregnum (1642-1660). Though their plague conditions and tools for response thereto, differed considerably from ours, many of the same solutions born of necessity emerged: Printed copies of plays for citizens to read in solitary comfort? We had videos to enjoy in our own rooms. "Chamber readings" in private homes? Even now, a group of actors calling themselves the Ubiquitous Players hold weekly Zoom readings of plays, original and classic. Strolling entertainers busking outdoors in public places? We had drive-in tent shows in parking lots.
When the Goodman opened the first indoor show in more than a year on August 1st (School Girls, shut down in March 2020 but streamed online in May), everyone entering the theater was required to show certification of their vaccination or negative test results at the door and mask up while inside. The Pride Arts storefront likewise welcomed audiences back on August 23rd upon compliance with these practices, which have been uniformly adopted by theaters in the city and suburbs. Too, theaters favored small-cast plays to reduce dressing-room congestion, as well as intermissionless running times.
These precautions proved successful, and the Great Re-Opening proceeded smoothly, with theaters offering not only Fall Festival-themed material, but long-delayed premieres. (The lobby bars also resumed dispensing food and drink.) The Unexpected Upsurge has precipitated relatively few canceled performances, except in the downtown districts dominated by 19th-century playhouses with sardine-can seating and travelers arriving unprepared for enforcement of our theater's policies.
The Goodman--having faced this crisis before and now having a plan at the ready--merely switched out the last week of its live-performance Christmas Carol with a video-stream version available free to ticketholders.
