The Theatre Industry’s Essential Workers: Catalysts for Change

Abstract

The Theatre Industry’s Essential Workers: Catalysts for Change Nathan Stith (bio), Aria Gastón-Panthaki (bio), and Rachel Morris (bio) On January 22, 2020, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States (Stokes et al.). Within weeks, the virus was spreading across the country, impacting every aspect of life. On March 12, Broadway theatre producers announced a temporary closure, which has been extended through at least June 2021 (Paulson “Broadway”). Soon after, theatres of all kinds throughout the country closed indefinitely. As theatre scholars and artists, our research team was immediately struck by the tremendous impact these closures would have on theatre artists from around the country. Using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods, we sought to gain a deeper understanding of how the COVID-19 closures were affecting the perspectives of theatre professionals. In this essay, we present the results of that research, highlighting possible strategies for a post-pandemic future that we gained from speaking with theatre’s essential workers. A Review of the Literature Surprisingly, we found very little information regarding the impact of previous pandemics on the theatre industry. However, an abundance of relevant materials was available in nonacademic periodicals focused on the current pandemic’s impact on the future of the theatre industry. During the late spring and early summer of 2020, these sources generally fell into two categories: 1) articles that provided data from surveys given to theatre audiences; and 2) ideas, thoughts, and opinions from prominent theatre professionals (mostly Broadway artists) about the impact COVID-19 was having on their careers and their hopes for the future of the industry. The first category of relevant literature focused on gauging the opinions of regular theatregoers regarding their feelings about returning to theatre spaces. A May 11, 2020 article in American Theatre examined two recent surveys of New York City and national theatre audiences. The survey found that the majority of theatregoers in New York City and nationwide intended to wait for between three-to-six months after theatres reopen before returning to them (Weinert-Kendt). A New York Times/Siena College Research Institute survey further revealed that the biggest concern among potential theatregoers was a lack of trust that other audience members would wear masks and adhere to social-distancing guidelines (Jacobs). The available literature also focused primarily on the impact the pandemic was having on Broadway productions and artists of notoriety. For example, the Guardian published an interview with Broadway alum Simon Russell Beale (Thorpe), and Broadway icon Joel Grey published an opinion piece in the New York Times. Soon after the closure of Broadway theatres, a number of “what-could-have-been” articles appeared that examined yet-to-open Broadway productions such as Mrs. Doubtfire and Sing Street (Paulson “Universe”; Soloski). In addition to articles about Broadway shows and performers, the literature also included several articles like Charles McNulty’s Los Angeles Times article titled, “25 Top Theater Minds Dream the Future: What Will the Post-Pandemic Stage Look Like?” In it, McNulty provides written responses from twenty-five artists to his email request [End Page 73] to “imagine the future” of the industry. The article includes responses from prominent Broadway and regional theatre artists, including Tony winners Patti Lupone, Michael Cerveris, and Diane Paulus as well as Pulitzer winners Michael R. Jackson and Quiara Alegría Hudes. The available literature reveals a hole in the current research; most pieces either focus primarily on audiences or else restrict input to the voices of well-known artists. What is missing is the perspective of theatre professionals who keep the industry churning at all levels, across the country. Thus our research—through a survey and individual interviews—seeks to give voice to a wider range of theatre professionals in order to share their ideas and thoughts about the future of our industry. Methods Participants Participants included 553 theatre professionals1 with work experiences in all fifty states. They were recruited using a variety of tools, including surveys distributed through Facebook and Twitter, specific Facebook groups,2 and direct emails to industry colleagues. The team used snowball-sampling techniques, a nonprobability sampling method in which existing participants recruit...