I’m compiling this list of online theater options on World Theatre Day, which feels more than a little ironic. Theaters all over the world are now shut down for the foreseeable future in light of the COVID-19 disaster.Removing the liveness from live theater and putting it on the flat screen can be a tricky proposition. But from PBS’s venerable Great Performances series to a number of small local companies who are putting together original content in quarantine, you can still enjoy theater without leaving your house. (And particularly in the case of the small scrappy locals, consider tossing them a donation in return for their creative largesse.) This is a partial list of some of the options available. We’ll be updating our streaming events listings throughout the shutdown. If we’ve missed one of your favorites, let us know!
An intro from artistic director Kirsten Riiber, filmed in the Neos’ empty theater, urges you to set your own timer to capture the feel of the live show. But if you decide, as I did, to go past the 60 minutes to watch all the pieces? Well, as Riiber says, “Fuck it. We are in uncertain hellish times and you can watch all the plays you want.” You can either choose the order yourself from a menu of links, or let a shuffle option do it for you. The lineup when I watched included whimsical interludes, like Leah Urzendowski’s For Immediate Press Release, in which she steps out on her porch to excitedly yell to the empty street “Maury Povich is still on!”—the kind of mundane observation that takes on near-revelatory meaning when you’re in the throes of cabin fever.
Berwyn’s 16th Street Theater also goes with the ticketed streaming option for Steven Strafford‘s brutally honest and frequently hilarious solo show (filmed at Steppenwolf’s LookOut series last year) about his three-year bout with meth addiction. Postshow discussions with Strafford via Zoom follow the Thursday and Friday evening performances. Through 4/4 at 16thstreetheater.org, $12.
Otherworld Theatre
GOOD AND NATIONWIDE
Great Performances
