Behind the Scenes at GODSPELL - "The whole industry needs this"

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/theater/godspell-berkshires-coronavirus.html?searchResultPosition=1

The president of Actor's Equity and the Massachusetts State Health Department disagree with you.

I was supposed to work at BTG this summer doing another production which ended up being postponed, but I was involved in the discussions of how to safely do a musical right now in the world. They sincerely hoped to have done more than one show and had many different possible scenarios, but in the end decided to only do Godspell which even though it cost me work personally I think was the right decision.

I'm confident that this is being done by artists in a theatre that cares deeply about the health and safety of its employees and patrons and has used their non-commercial status to take some chances that other places wouldn't be able to; i.e., wholesale moving the production to a tent outside the venue and severely limiting the audience. Godspell is itself a very adaptable show and from moment one the concept was to do a production where everyone has to stay six feet apart - essentially, how do you find community and faith while physically distanced?

It's all an experiment but someone has to be the first. In a way I'm glad I'm not one of the guinea pigs but it also is crushing my soul to not be working, even moreso than crushing my wallet. If this ends up being a bad idea I'm certain the plug will be pulled immediately, but this is happening in a part of the country where infections have been trending downward and the work really has been done to get to a place of safe reopening, unlike virtually everywhere else.

I'm following it closely and there are a lot of unanswered questions, but this is not being done lightly or frivolously or with anything but the strictest of standards on every level. And even that may prove to not be enough, but I can't imagine a safer or better scenario in which to take the first baby steps into how we might move forward. For Broadway to ever reopen, places like BTG will have to bite the bullet and get things moving. No commercial producer will attempt anything at all until something like this proves successful.

Like the NYT article says, I think this production is an important and necessary test. Contact Tracing will show if this lead to new cases, or if the mitigation efforts can control the spread of the virus.

At the daily COVID briefing in Illinois, they mentioned a recent case study of two hairdressers who tested positive. Contact tracing found they had interacted with 139 clients, but since they both wore masks, not a single client got the virus.

I'm of two minds. On one hand, I think it's a very important experiment that needs to be done. The government has made no indication of bailing out any arts institutions -- theater needs to save itself. The production is done outdoors where there is a significantly lower risk of spread, and for the most part seems like they are working hard with equity to maintain standards that can allow the production to proceed safely. If the show can operate safely... what's the harm?

On the other hand, some of the measures seem kinda pointless. Making sure the actors are maintaining a distance on stage, and certain rules about singing distances and masks... but then putting all of the actors in the same house? Maybe there are house rules that we don't know about (they can only see each other and congregate outside, etc.). I think it would be one thing if they decided to totally isolate the actors where they act as one bubble, but that's really not possible given the designers that need to come in contact with them.

I have a friend who has an extra ticket... I'm toying with the idea of going. I just miss theater so much, and considering this is outdoors and maintains distance between audience members, I don't see much risk for myself.

Maybe not Equity, but there is more tlive heatre happening around the USA now. The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va is presenting "Otello" and "Twelfth Night" both outside and indoors.
Personally, you could not pay me to see this.

https://americanshakespearecenter.com/



Edit: Apparently ASC historically has hired both Equity and non Equity , and now some actors were forced to turn in their Union Card to participate: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/once-more-unto-the-breach-shakespeare-returns-to-the-shenandoah-valley/2020/07/08/7b2d3482-bd4c-11ea-80b9-40ece9a701dc_story.html

Updated On: 8/7/20 at 11:30 AM

unclevictor said: "IF this production was being done INSIDE with the correct # of crew members (SM’s, props people, carpenters, dressers, hair, makeup) and social distancing precautions were taken, then I’d say YEAH, let’s see if it works. Let’s test this out, but nothing about this outdoor production is that. The actors are quarantining together! Come on!
Someone commented that this production is necessary and a test. NO NO NO it’s not.
This is ridiculous"

I don't understand this reasoning at all. Outdoor productions with appropriate distancing are going to be safer than anything done indoors regardless of precautions taken. Those involved quarantining together as a bubble is safer than them being left to their own devices to wander around- and they're being regularly tested.

Although this article details some of the precautions, I can assure you that they are far more extensive than what was described. Equity has set an extremely high expectation for safety measures, which is why only two companies have been granted approval thus far- and it's no coincidence that both are in the Berkshires, a less urban area with fewer people coming in from densely populated areas.

Updated On: 8/7/20 at 12:18 PM

Ew