Today I sat in on an on-line theater rehearsal process. The fact that this was happening was, of course, a result of the pandemic.
After all, a lot of actors are currently out of work. Rather than sitting on their hands, they are organizing to create on-line theatrical presentations.
All of the rehearsals, as well as the performance, are done over Zoom. The goal is not to replicate traditional theater, but rather to bring the concepts and skills of traditional theater to a new medium.
I don’t know where all of this is going, but it is exciting to see it in action. Just as cinema is related to theater, yet different, we may be seeing the emergence of a new art form.
Of course this is not entirely new. Yet there is a particular urgency now, and the tools are finally good enough to allow talented directors and actors to put on a production without the need for special equipment or high end technical expertise.
It feels good to be present at the birth of something like this. Looking back, people in future years may look upon 2020 as the year when on-line theater truly emerged as a distinct art form in its own right.