On March 16, 2020, I was in Oregon with my colleague Laura for a potential project. We were returning to San Diego and received news that our stages would be shutting down. We sat wondering: what did this mean for our engagement work? How would we make theatre matter to more people when we couldn’t set foot in the theatre or gather in person?
Instead of fearing the unknown, we asked ourselves how we could become friends with it. If we couldn’t be together, how could we feel like we were together? It was imperative to continue uniting our communities through art. In the darkest moments, humanity needs creative outlets to process and express itself. We certainly could have waited—we could have held our breath and paused for the moment to come. We committed to rising to the challenges of the moment, as artists often have under dire circumstances, to hold a light in that darkness so people could communicate, create, and connect, even in the solitude of their homes. Our vision and values were augmented by taking care of three focal points: our community, our staff, and our organization.
We started developing online programming. It was some of the first in the country. A week after sitting sadly in the airport and hearing news of large audience gatherings shutting down across our country, I was learning new technology, sitting with a camera in my face, hosting live playwriting workshops for hundreds of people across the country. Amid a global pandemic, people needed an opportunity to immerse themselves in creative arts.
You can find all of the Arts Engagement Department’s great work on The Old Globe’s YouTube channel. In-person workshops were reconceived, revamped, and presented online for everyone to utilize. Opportunities like The Living Room Play Workshops and festival were highly successful. The resounding response we got from participants was that they mattered.
We learned that digital artmaking helps address accessibility; we found that the ability to assemble safely online serves as a functional space for people who have difficulty leaving their homes. A year after successfully building a community online, questions shifted to: how can we once again create a safely constructed road back to the world of live artmaking? How can we make sure we are all safe but still have access to the vital resources of creative expression? These questions allowed us to pivot toward a hybrid solution.
AXIS programming came in to support the transition. For the past six years, we have produced free community programming on our plaza. When the rules of lockdown shifted, we utilized the desire of the San Diego community to be out of their houses and to gather safely to build our next steps in uniting. In May of 2021, we invited our first audience back to the Globe. Weekly, audiences recreated themselves on our plaza, enjoying free live shows and participating in artmaking opportunities. We were safely able to connect with over 10,000 live audience members.
Many people came up to me throughout these programs thanking us for giving them their “first opportunity to enjoy a live show again.” I saw friends reunite for the first time in a year, and artists shake off the sadness of 2020 on our stage and reignite their passions. It was magic, and we are thankful for the space and the support we garnered in these big moments of experimentation.
The past two years have shown us to expect the unexpected. As the world changes, we will change with it. As long as you keep coming, the Globe will be here making theatre matter.
