One afternoon in April, I was attending a friend’s birthday party at Zoom in the company of eight friends whose familiar faces appeared on my computer screen.
It should have been ‘a zoom with a view’, but it was the first time I had ever tried Zoom, and so while the others chatted and joked lightly, I sat staring at the screen, wondering how I could participate.
The host led the conversation like a cheerful orchestra leader, and suddenly it was my turn to say something. I stared blankly at the expected faces and… froze. I had totally zoomed out.
More like low-key
This was hardly a good start in dealing with the future of online communication in these coronavirus times. As an actor and playwright at a time when theaters are closing due to social distancing rules, I am faced with having to pursue my profession online.
Many theater producers have turned to digital and lo-fi modes, and I can only admire their groundbreaking efforts. Having seen a few of these, I must nevertheless say that they leave me feeling quite depressed.
M to mother *****
During an online comedy show, Judi Dench came out surprisingly. She zoomed in too close to the camera and interrupted two messy-looking famous actors complaining about the lock.
She had forgotten to comb her hair and, shock / horror, she used the ‘F-word’. This was not at all what we had expected from James Bond’s boss.
I’m sure fans would rather see actors who look amazing in costumes and make-up on stage in a theater, rather than relax in tracksuits in their living rooms.
Live or let die
More to the point, how can these ‘culture from the couch’ performances replace the live theater experience? Especially comedy shows. To get a comedy going, the audience really needs to sit very close to each other. People make each other laugh.
At our annual Christmas exhibitions in Tivoli, much of the fun audience participation is; shouting answers, cheering the bad guys, cheering on the treats and taking an unhappy victim from the audience on stage to take part in the action.
None of this, which is crucial to the show’s madness, is allowed during the pandemic. In addition, we usually perform for a crowd of about 1,000 people in the Tivoli Glass Hall, but now, due to the restrictions, we have only allowed a total of 350 in the theater with empty alternative seats.
Personally free from pandemic
By calculating the cost and realizing that our show never works at Zoom, we have withdrawn to repay thousands of tickets and postpone it until next year.
Performers will see smiling faces without masks inside a large hot theater room, and audiences will not see actors struggling to perform inside squares on a computer screen.
We need to look forward to better times where we can all get physical and have fun again. A theater critic wrote: “The crazy Christmas show is an antidepressant. Everyone should be able to get it on prescription. ”
We look forward to encouraging you again when we perform ‘live’ at Tivoli in 2021.
Source: The Nordic Page