[As I noted in my introduction to Part 1 of this post, I’m an associate member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA), the professional organization for theater reviewers in print, on line, and on electronic media. In the ATCA newsletter called The Update there’s a section entitled “This Just In” which lists “select articles by ATCA members that popped-up in our newsfeed.” On 24 March, the list included seven articles by ATCA members concerning the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
[I presented four in Part 1; Part 2 below includes the remaining three. The articles all stand alone, of course, but I recommend going back and reading the first installment. (My introductory discussion includes additional detail as well.)]
“WHERE TO GET YOUR THEATER FIX ONLINE, OLD
FAVORITES AND NEW EXPERIMENTS”
by Jonathan
Mandell
[On his website New York Theater, Mandell provides another listing of
on-line theater venues. This list, which
Mandell points out is updated regularly, was originally posted on
newyorktheater.me on 19 March. (In the
original post on New York Theater, Mandell
supplied links to the websites associated with the on-line venues he lists, as
well as to some of his reviews. I have
inserted the URL’s in lieu of hyperlinks.)]
The threat of COVID-19 is shutting down theaters across
the world, but it’s not killing theater – which is increasingly going online.
There are two types of online theater now – the ongoing
online sites that offer video-capture recordings of shows that were on stage,
many on Broadway, but also Off-Broadway, and international performances.
The second type are newly created livestreaming events
that are in response to the current situation, and from which may emerge
exciting new forms of theater. These are more or less divided into
new platforms
new series
individual shows
immersive theater for the age of
self-distancing
This post is being updated regularly
Regular Online Streaming Sites
Several of the ongoing services – Marquee, the
Metropolitan Opera and On The Boards — are offering free access for the month,
in response to the crisis.
Theater-focused online streaming sites:
BroadwayHD [https://www.broadwayhd.com/]
BroadwayHD offers some 300 productions, from the recent
acclaimed Broadway revival of Carousel* to the original Sweeney Todd. In celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s 90th
birthday and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 72nd, the service has put together a
“playlist” this month featuring such titles as Gypsy, Putting It Together,
Cats, Phantom Of The Opera, and Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. A
subscription costs $8.99 per month after a seven-day free trial.
Digital Theatre [https://www.digitaltheatre.com/consumer/productions]
Digital Theatre focuses on British productions, from
Shakespeare to West End versions of Broadway shows. Subscriptions cost £9.99 a
month, but you can rent a specific production for £7.99 and up
Marquee TV [https://www.marquee.tv/]
Marquee offers dance, opera and theater from around the
world, including productions of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Subscriptions
normally cost $8.99 a month, but Marquee is offering 30 days for free.
The Metropolitan Opera [http://metopera.org/]
The Met is offering a different opera every day for free,
each starting at 7:30 p.m. and staying up for 20 hours. During this period of shutdown and social
distancing, they are offering it for free.
National Theatre At Home
[London] [https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/at-home]
This is not actually a “regular online streaming site.”
It has been created to address the current crisis. Starting April 2nd, and
every Thursday thereafter, the British theater will stream FOR FREE on its
YouTube channel a production from its NT Live collection, recordings of their
stage productions that are such high quality that they are normally presented
in cinemas worldwide. The first production online April 2 (and for seven days
after that) is “One Man, Two Guv’nors,” the slapstick comedy with a Tony
winning performance by James Corden.
OnTheBoards.TV [https://www.ontheboards.tv/]
On The Boards is a decade-old website that began in their
Seattle-based theater and now offers some 60 performances by such avant-garde
artists as Young Jean Lee, from their own theater, Portland Institute for
Contemporary Art, the Fusebox Festival in Austin, and Performance Space 122 in New York. On The
Boards is offering its show for free through the end of April!
This is not actually a “regular online streaming site.”
It has been created to address the current crisis. Starting April 2nd, and
every Thursday thereafter, the British theater will stream FOR FREE on its
YouTube channel a production from its NT Live collection, recordings of their
stage productions that are such high quality that they are normally presented
in cinemas worldwide. The first production online April 2 (and for seven days
after that) is “One Man, Two Guv’nors,” the slapstick comedy with a Tony
winning performance by James Corden.
Free in the NY area. “a unique collaboration” between
Channel 13 WNET and the large community of non-profit Off-Broadway theaters.
The plays are up only for a limited time. Currently: Uncle Vanya with Jay O.
Sanders; School Girls, or the African Mean Girls Play; Buried Child; Incident at
Vichy; Old Hats; and all three plays in The Gabriels series.
Theater Available from General Online Streaming Services
Amazon Prime
Musicals and other Broadway shows, some of them taped
directly from the stage, that you can rent (for as little as $2.95) or buy
(usually for $9.99) if you have a membership on Amazon Prime. (Some, such as
“Carousel,” are free with Amazon Prime membership.)
Live
from Lincoln Center: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XXW1MLZ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B06XXW1MLZ&linkCode=as2&tag=newyorthe-20&linkId=040e5df35887cc3f113cb071b31cf737]
Into
The Woods (the movie version) [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TPEMK3M/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00TPEMK3M&linkCode=as2&tag=newyorthe-20&linkId=a7a117ff0c1e8982e78ac1b9979dde4e]
The
SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage! [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082CYVJKB/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B082CYVJKB&linkCode=as2&tag=newyorthe-20&linkId=ffb164f1b5663996f72d959bb780f4e6]
Netflix
Netflix, available only by subscription, has lately made
a habit of video-capturing Broadway shows on stage shortly before the end of
their runs. Among the current offerings:
American Son, John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons, Oh Hello,
Shrek, Springsteen on Broadway. There are also a revolving selection of movie
adaptations of the original stage musicals. Currently, Hairspray, Jersey Boys,
Sweeney Todd.
PBS Passport [https://www.thirteen.org/passport/]
PBS Passport offers access to shows past and present from
the Public Broadcasting System; it requires that you become a member. ($60
annual or $5 monthly) In addition to the full library of episodes from Great
Perfromances, there is also a special collection of Broadway plays on Broadway
on PBS including The Sound of Music, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The King and
I, Red, Much Ado About Nothing and Kinky Boots.
New Livestreaming
There are new offerings sprouting every day, as theaters
and theater artists adjust and innovate in the new reality.
New
Platforms
TrickleUp, [https://trickleup.uscreen.io/] a new
“grass-roots subscription platform” for
$10 a month, hopes to raise money for artists in need. Launched March 23 by a group of downtown
artists and artistic directors, It promises “videos of solo performances,
conversation, and other behind-the-scenes goodies,” Its catalogue so far
features such fare as Taylor Mac reading scenes from “Gary”, Sarah Ruhl reading
some of her poems, Mia Katigbak singing La Vie En Rose, Dominique Morisseau
doing a monologue from Skeleton Crew, Suzan-Lori Parks singing “Colored All My
Life,” Lucas Hnath reading material cut from his play “A Doll’s House Part 2”
Play-Preview [https://www.play-perview.com/]
This “new live-streaming theater initiative” co-founded
by theater producers Jeremy Wein and Mirirai Sithole promises “unique,
one-time-only, live-streamed theatrical events and original series,” with
proceedings going to arts organizations affected by the pandemic. The first
event was “Family Friendly with the Civilians,”
The next up, on March 29: Alice Ripley reprises her solo show “The Pink
Unicorn” live, $5 a ticket. (My review of The Pink Unicorn when it was in
person [https://newyorktheater.me/2019/05/15/the-pink-unicorn-review-alice-ripley-as-small-town-mother-of-genderqueer-child/])
New
Series
The 24 Hour Plays Viral Monologues
[https://24hourplays.com/viral-monologues/]
The 24 Hour Plays is going weekly with Viral Monologues!
2. 24 Hour Plays is releasing a new set of Viral
Monologues March 24 on IGTV. 24 actors have been paired with theater’s top
writers, who have crafted unique pieces especially for their actors. From 6 PM
until midnight, the new monologues will be published, one every 15 minutes.
Performers joining the fold this week include Kelly
Aucoin, Dylan Baker, Becky Ann Baker, Anna Baryshnikov, Nicholas Braun,
Marylouise Burke, Juliana Canfield, Ty Defoe, Daveed Diggs, Ashley Fink, Noah
Galvin, Clark Gregg, Damon Gupton, Ryan Haddad, Josh Hamilton, William Jackson
Harper, Daniel K. Isaac, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, muMs, Coral Peña, Danny
Pudi, Michael Shannon, Jessica St. Clair and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. The
writers of the monologues: Will Arbery, Clare Barron, Eric Bogosian, Bekah
Brunstetter, Joseph Dougherty, Kristoffer Diaz, Sarah Gancher, Gracie Gardner,
Stephen Adly Guirgis, J. Holtham, Lily Houghton, Elizabeth Irwin, Sofya
Levitsky-Weitz, Aaron Wigdor Levy, David Lindsay-Abaire, Tim J. Lord, Gabe
McKinley, Dan O’Brien, Anya Richkind, Jonathan Marc Sherman, Charly Evon
Simpson, Alena Smith and Tracey Scott Wilson.
First
set of plays, still available for viewing: Twenty theater writers — including
David Lindsay-Abaire and Stephen Adly Guirgis — were paired with 20 actors —
including Hugh Dancy, Rachel Dratch, Marin Ireland, Richard Kind, Bobby Moreno
— for 20 original monologues, which were posted from 6 p.m. to midnight on
Tuesday, March 17 and are now available
Here, for example, is “A Story of Survival” by David
Lindsay-Abaire in which Rachel Dratch plays a character who discovers ‘a bottle
of Purell on the bottom shelf, sad and lonely, just like I am right now,’ but
notices that an older woman has her eye on it too.
#54BelowAtHome [https://54below.com/54belowathome/]
The cabaret club is scheduling videos from its archives,
with occasional live shows on its Facebook page. (Schedule in link.)
Folksbiene Live [https://www.facebook.com/folksbiene/]
On their Facebook page, the National Yiddish Theatre
presented “Yiddish theater, past, present and future,” which is still
available. The theater promises to do more.
#InComesCompany [https://www.instagram.com/companybway/]
The Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth
musical Company is using their Instagram account to present different cast
members each night.
Intermission Mission from TodayTix
[https://www.instagram.com/todaytix/]
“At home performances from the Broadway community” —
basically a single song each day by a different Broadway star (so far Annaleigh
Ashford, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Alice Ripley) on TodayTix Instagram account in
support of The Actors Fund.
Living Room Concerts on Broadway World
[https://www.broadwayworld.com/topic/LIVING-ROOM-CONCERTS]
A series of one-song performances by Broadway stars from their own homes. Since
it began March 13th, there have been performances (which you can still see) by
Jagged Little Pill’s Kathryn Gallagher, Dear Evan Hansen’s Andrew Barth Feldman
singing from Godspell (pictured), Andy Karl and Orfeh, Carolee Carmello singing
from Hello, Dolly, Hadestown’s John Krause.
New York City Center [https://www.instagram.com/nycitycenter/channel/]
Daily dives into their archives (City Center Encores!
etc.) on their Instagram channel,
starting on March 22nd, with Donna Murphy singing “Could I Leave You” from
Follies in honor of Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday.
R&H Goes Live [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnkBNI1lMlM&feature=youtu.be]
The series will feature Broadway stars performing
stripped-down, contemporary versions Rodgers and Hammerstein tunes originally
released as part of R&H Goes Pop! Each performance will be followed by a
live Q&A with the performer. The series started with Jeremy Jordan and
Laura Osnes on March 25.
Stars in the House via The Actors Fund
[https://www.youtube.com/user/actorsfundorg]
This twice daily combination performance and talk show,
with hosts Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, was launched on Monday March 16 with
Kelli O’Hara, and has a roster of top-notch Broadway talent every day
since. It’s turned out to be a
combination of concert, talk show, and public service announcement – and it may
well be the start of a new genre.
Theatre Without Theater [https://www.instagram.com/theatrewithouttheater/]
An instagram account that’s been offering a nightly
“theatrical broadcast,” and soliciting artists to contribute more. Among the
broadcasts so far (and still available) are Emily Walton singing from “Darling Grenadine”
and Margot Seibert from “Unknown Soldier,” (which I reviewed [https://newyorktheater.me/2020/03/10/unknown-soldier-review-michael-friedman-musical-about-memory-and-love-and-loss/].) both musicals that were playing Off-Broadway
until all theaters were shut down.
One-Night Specials
The Rosie O’Donnell Show
[https://newyorktheater.me/2020/03/22/watch-the-rosie-odonnell-show-live/]
Rosie O’Donnell is resurrecting her talk show for one night,
March 22, as a fundraiser for The Actor’s Fund.
Partial list of those promising to participate from home:
Sebastian Arcelus, Skylar Astin, Beth Behrs, Erich Bergen, Nate Berkus,
Stephanie J. Block, Matthew Broderick & Sarah Jessica Parker, Tituss Burgess,
Norbert Leo Butz, Kristin Chenoweth, Gavin Creel, Darren Criss, Gloria Estefan,
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Harvey Fierstein, David Foster, Morgan Freeman, Neil
Patrick Harris, Megan Hilty, Judith Light, Barry Manilow, Rob McClure, Audra
McDonald, Katharine McPhee, Alan Menken, Idina Menzel, Brian Stokes Mitchell,
Kelli O’Hara, Lauren Patten, Ben Platt, Billy Porter, Randy Rainbow, Andrew
Rannells, Chita Rivera, Seth Rudetsky, Lea Salonga, Miranda Sings, Jordin
Sparks, Ben Vereen, Adrienne Warren and James Wesley.
Individual
Shows
Some of the individual plays were performing on stage,
and thanks to new agreement from Actors Equity, are switching online.
At Home Theater Series via Show
Shepherd [http://www.showshepherd.com/live/]
On March 26th and March 27th, this theater consulting
firm is presenting a series of four (so far) productions streamed one time only
on Instagram or YouTube in real time,
for free. On March 26th at 8:30 p.m.,
for example Is Kahn’s musical “Mother Jones in Heaven” will be performed on
YouTube by Vivian Nesbitt with John Dillon on guitar.
Desperately Seeking The Exit
[https://www.eventcombo.com/e/desperately-seeking-the-exit-uncut--online-38380?discount=INDIE]
Peter Michael Marino one-man show about th making &
un-making of his West End-Blondie-Madonna musical flop, “Desperately Seeking
Susan” $10 2 p.m. March 28
Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes) from En Garde Arts
[https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/34637?fbclid=IwAR1vXF7pFK47wxk41_YqZ9ipFSWJCnUsuLe0o1nA8OngODOZPAWw9viDbs4]
This play depicts a fandango, which is a lively,
spontaneous, communal musical celebration as practiced by immigrants from Latin
America who have brought the tradition to New York. It had already opened at La
MaMa (my review [https://newyorktheater.me/2020/02/11/review-fandango-for-butterflies-and-coyotes-immigrants-celebrateand-remember/])
when it had to shut down. Now En Garde Arts is bringing it online starting
March 20th. Tickets: $15, or $10 for students
“Ghost Quartet”
by Dave Malloy [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJSaEJm8pCE]
A newly released recording of this 90-minute musical by
the creator of “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.”
Gloria from A.C.T. San Francisco
[https://secure.act-sf.org/gloria-tonistone-streaming/1376]
A.C.T.’s production of this play by Branden
Jacobs-Jenkins, which takes place in an office much like the New Yorker
magazine and takes a shocking turn (my review
of an earlier production in New York [https://newyorktheater.me/2015/06/17/gloria-review-branden-jacobs-jenkins-play-of-warped-ambition-and-trauma/])
is available for streaming through April 5.
The Hampstead Theater UK production of Lauren Gunderson’s
widely-produced play about a surprise-filled encounter between high school
student Anthony and his classmate Caroline in her bedroom, will be presented
for free online from March 23 to March 29, starring Maisie Williams from Game
of Thrones.
Performance For One [http://www.untitledtheater.com/previous-productions/performance-for-one.html]
This one-on-one theater performance by Edward Einhorn’s
Untitled Theater Co. # 61, presented in 10 minute slots, has now become a
virtual experience via Skype. To book individual slots between 1 and 3 p.m. on
either March 24 or March 27, e-mail performancefor1@gmail.com
The Siblings Play at Rattlestick Playwright Theater in
New York [https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/34100]
Ren Dara Santiago’s play set
in Harlem in 2014 “delves deep into the psyche of a teenage girl and her two
brothers left to raise each other.” It was playing on stage when the theaters
were shut down, but will now be
available for pay-for-view online March 23-April 5: $15 tix.
“Teenage Dick” at Theater Wit in Chicago [https://www.theaterwit.org/plays/2020/td/]
The play by Mike Lew imagines Richard III as a disabled
h.s. student, will be livestreamed starting 3/20. It’s a production of a
Chicago company, but thanks to the miracle of Livestreaming, it’s available to
New York theatergoers. My review [https://newyorktheater.me/2020/03/24/teenage-dick-review-theater-wit-brings-mike-lews-updated-richard-iii-streaming-to-the-nation/].
In New York, LaMama ETC, which has long
experimented with livestreaming events all over the world, is livestreaming their own productions. First
up: Downtown Variety #1 on March 20, featuring short acts of dance, music,
theater, new media, comedy, A/V performance, and stuff that doesn’t (yet) have
a label. Poetry Electric: Powerful Words, Power Women on March 23. My review of
Downtown Variety # 1 [https://newyorktheater.me/2020/03/21/la-mamas-downtown-variety-1-and-the-new-pandemic-aesthetic/].
Here Arts Center [https://here.org/programs/online-programming/],
another downtown NYC theater, which just
presented the puppet Anywhere online, plans a weekly series Here@Home on
Wednesdays, and #stillHere every Friday at 1, plus an elaborate project called
#COVIDEO: “A community of artists and audiences will come together to
independently create ten seconds of video art. Each day, one section is created
in response to the previous ten seconds. After ten days, they are strung
together into one video.”
Immersive Theater for the Age of Self Distancing
Adventures By Phone [https://www.sinkingshipcreations.com/phone]
Three LARP (live-action role play) shows via telephone by
the innovative immersive theater company Sinking Ship Creations:
Girl On The Phone – You get a call from a kidnapping
victim, and need to help her escape.
Frantic Recall – A chat with a psychic about a past life.
The Other Side Of The Line – Where you try to convince a
friend of a friend that vaccines don’t cause autism.
Play In Your Bath [https://www.artful.ly/store/events/20321]
This is subtitled “An Immersive Audio Spa for Physical
Distancing,” and is from This Is Not A Theater Company. You sit in your own
bathtub during the play, and listen to poetry, dramatic scenes, and dancing,
which you do with your fingers or toes to music by Philip Glass and Chopin.
(This is all audio; no sharing of naked pictures.)
Life on Earth [https://www.artful.ly/store/events/20324]
This Is Not A Theater Company adapts [. . .] Charles
Mee’s play “Heaven on Earth” for a chatroom, on the free app Discord. The
audience will chat, and watch various videos, including dances and songs sent
recently by artists from Argentina, Nepal, India, Turkey, and China.
-----—--
This list grows daily.
And watch out: Livestreaming (and its aesthetic) is going
mainstream too.
Here’s Lin-Manuel Miranda on a homier, less snazzy
version of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, playing and singing (interview
starts at around 5:30; song at around
13:10) “Dear Theodosia.” from ‘Hamilton.”
*And if you want to get a
taste of Carousel for free, here is Joshua Henry (who starred in Carousel)
singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” on his Instagram account –one of the
countless theater artists performing spontaneously online
*
* * *
“THE
NEW SEASON??? MAYBE!”
by Jeannie Lieberman
[Lieberman is the
editor of the website TheaterScene.com (not to be confused with a similarly titled site, TheaterScene.net) and she’s expressing her feelings about the
cancellation of the Broadway season—just in time for the Tonys and other award
ceremonies!]
Barely under a week ago I was preparing Theaterscene's
annual Spring Season edition, excitedly
announcing the 27 new Broadway shows that will make their debut between now and
the Tony deadline .
([W]henever that is. No word from the Broadway League
yet)
Indeed the season started off quite impressively with the
new, tradition shattering Westside Story, while last year‘s major hit To Kill a
Mockingbird made theater history by performing at Madison Square Garden for
18,000 students.
Things were looking up. A Soldier's Play was great,
Company was coming in with a female lead in the traditional male role,
coinciding with creator Stephen Sondheim's 90th birthday.
The show must go on
. . . not!
And then the indescribable and unimaginable happened.
Shut down! Anathema to any theater production. It was shocking, sudden and
surgically precise, catching everyone unaware. There was mass confusion in the
lobby of the West 43rd street building which houses many performers as they
were sent home. The effects are incalculable, from producers to performers to
part time ushers (theater's first victims). Press agents prematurely proclaimed
a re-opening date, April 12, 13th (now mid May?)
Most of Off Broadway's re-opening date: Never!
Therein lies an even greater tragedy as little shows struggled to get a foot in the
door only to have it slammed shut.
Unable to wait it out, most will vanish without a trace.
As we wander around avoiding each other, (the ban on
congregation went from under 500, to 250, now to 10 in less than a week), the
concept of theater as we knew it, of thousands
from all over the country, the world, sitting side-by-side, strangers to
each other, united in a common goal - sharing an experience - has become as
alien as smoking there.
And the ban comes at a time when the very purpose of
theater is most needed.
Forthwith: A cautiously optimistic forecast of the new
season as we would hope it to be and condolences for the many shows that may
not survive:
Six,
The Minutes, Hangmen, Company, The Lehman Trilogy, Diana, Mrs. Doubtfire, Caroline, or Change, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Michael Jackson, The Musical, Flying Over Sunset, Plaza Suite, American Buffalo,
How I Learned to Drive, Take Me Out.
See you at the theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . I hope.
*
* * *
“WAITING
IT OUT”
by Sylvie Drake
[Covering Los
Angeles, Sylvie Drake, a former review-writer for the L.
A. Times, tells us what it’s like for her
in the second largest city in the U.S. with everything . . . dark. Her article appeared in the on-line weekly
magazine Cultural Weekly on 18 March.]
Thursday, March 12, 2020, 6:30pm.
It’s pitch dark. Still.
The power went out at 3:15pm, so there’s no light. The
stock market went down another gazillion points again today, so there’s no
money. The food in the freezer and fridge is spoiling as I write. Soon there
may be no food.
The TV’s dark. The internet’s out. Phone dead. Batteries
in my portable radio dead (my bad). The cat died 15 years ago. I miss that
little guttersnipe.
The central heating won’t go on without power. Darn
stupid thermostat. I almost started a fire turning on the burners on the gas
range in the kitchen with matches to keep warm — remember matches? Thank
goodness for the fireplace in the living room because apparently nothing’s
going to function unless I put a match to it while trying not to burn the house
down.
This is Los Angeles. The new Supermetropolis. Miles of
it, snaking in every possible direction, including straight up. Except that it
has a mayor who’s out of favor with the current president, so nothing that once
worked still does.
I have a cellphone, a landline, a laptop and an old car,
and I can’t use any of them to reach anyone. A monopoly called Spectrum
controls the first three, and a mysterious company called the Los Angeles Dept.
of Water & Power controls Spectrum, as well as my furnace and my garage
door.
As I write, my car is held prisoner, because my house is
95 years young and the garage that came with it is also its foundation. It’s
under my living room, surrounded by dirt and cement on three sides, which is
ideal for storing wine at just the right temperature, but there’s no access to
it other than through the garage door.
That door was electrified some time in the late 1960s
(honestly, I can’t remember) and when there’s no power it’s frozen in place. So
now I also have no access to the car. Or pantry, because my pantry is in the
garage with my car and the wine and a few other important things, such as my
passport and the deed to the house.
Yes, of course, I have a tiny key that is supposed to
open the garage door when there’s no electricity, but that’s assuming I can find
it and can then scare up a Sumo wrestler to lift the unlocked door.
As you can see, the 21st century presents its particular
set of problems. When one thing goes wrong, bingo. It sets off a bunch of
repercussions that can drive you crazy.
But let’s not suffer the small stuff.
The entire world has been brought to its knees by a tiny
virus called Covid-19 that nobody last Fall even knew existed, and that our
president, who communicates with an unspecified deity inside his head, is
convinced will disappear very soon, maybe the day after tomorrow, “like — it’s
a miracle,” he said in a sentence that wasn’t even grammatical.
So I sit and wait. In the gloom.
No power, TV, phone, computer, car, heat, pantry or that
food rotting in the fridge with every passing minute. And, as far as I can
tell, all the money in the retirement fund of every person over 65 — anyone,
that is, who had any money to put in one in the first place — is melting away
too. Presto. Gone.
But . . . all is not lost. We still possess ballpoint
pens and yellow pads, and writing helps me while away the time by the light of
a dim camping lantern (the one of two that has unexpired batteries) and about
37 tea lights that I never thought I’d find any use for and have now positioned
with great care around the house in strategic spots such as, well, bathrooms.
You’d be surprised at the lovely shadows and designs they
cast on the walls and ceilings…
Oops. Whaddayaknow? The power just came on.
At last. A miracle!
[Sylvie Drake is a tri-lingual translator, writer, and
former theater reviewer and columnist for the Los Angeles Times. She was born and grew up in Alexandria, Egypt,
and worries that she may have traded one third-world country for another. Fingers crossed that she’s wrong, wrong, wrong.]
