Friday in NYC we learned we were asked to “Pause” ourselves, to hunker down in place, if not exactly “shelter in place,” though basically that. Two new cultural grooves are planned for tomorrow and Monday, but Friday I just through it out there on ten minutes notice, does anyone want to de-stress, like now. A good half dozen showed up, one with wine. Four of us were NYers and one from Ohio, and another from Maryland. And we did de-stress, sharing our coping, our challenges, and then when the one guy fell off, just regular old girl gossip. We ended up spending nearly two hours together, and on the ten minutes notice, and I definitely left feeling better. Then I had a late night college reunion Zoom session a classmate I inspired set up a few days ago. Nearly fifty classmates showed up in their little Zoom box, many I hadn’t met, many I hadn’t seen in many many years. Our host had us each say which dorm we lived in at college, where we are now and who with, and the best thing we have gotten out of this world-wide challenge. People from across the country showed, and they shared their stress about being home bound, about their universities where they teach and their children attend closing, the elementary schools closing and finding themselves being newly appointed home schoolers, the challenges of remote working, the concerns for our parents who are all in the vulnerable elderly stage, our frustrations with the lack of testing available, and with the government. But turning our attention to what good has come out of it was an excellent mind focus-er. I spoke of how I am amazed by the boundary breaking communities we’re forming so quickly. Others spoke of how this is something everyone in the world can share. Others spoke of the kindness and generosity we’re seeing from our fellow citizens, and of the hopes for new drugs and our faith int he scientists showing up. Everyone in all these events was grateful to have a chance to show up and to connect and to see old friends and meet new ones, and all at once in little boxes.
This afternoon I was invited to a class with an acting teacher with whom I studied several months ago, as I occasionally enjoy time spent toward that endeavor. She generously invited all her old students to attend and she taught a class in exchange for giving her time to work out the tricks with the Zoom software which she is also using in preparation for a more formal class she is offering through an acting studio. I picked up some tricks myself, sharing the screen so we can show videos in which we performed, separating out two people to read a scene for the class, breaking out to rehearse on the side. This is going to change how actors audition and rehearse. This software has been around for some time, but no one noticed. Now it’s going to be a new normal I’m sure.
Our assignment for the class was to write something creative inspired by what we are going through. Of course, I’m blogging a bit here, but that’s blogging. I tried my hand at an iambic pentameter poem inspired by the Globe in London which is now offering free streaming of their Shakespeare plays. The writing of it forced me to focus on all the worries, the worries which wake me up at night, scare me, panic me, but only in moments and then I might have a Groove or write or watch television that is not news, pretty much like all of us are feeling. [ I’ll post the poem that resulted separately.] We students not only read our work, performed scenes and monologues and showed videos of work some of us had done, but we also were given a moment if needed to let us feel the feelings, as that feeds the actors’ art. It also was good to for us to have that, many showing up from their parents’ homes where they retreated for the social distancing, some several states away, and one, an ocean away. In class it was pointed out that not only might the tech approach to performance change, but that new films and other works after Corona will be strongly impacted by our experience. This terrible thing will for sure inspire a wellspring of creativity and new work. Yes, economic devastation and death are here, but we can hold on to the silver linings that are happening now and will do so for many years from now.
