An unemployed stage
This uncertain time has taken the jobs of numerous artists around the world, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The stage is empty. The screens are still. The orchestras are silent. The spotlights are getting dusty. These are all repercussions of the ruthless COVID-19 pandemic that just doesn’t seem to stop. Social distancing has made it nearly impossible for performers to use their gifts to a comfortable degree. For some performers, their gift is merely a hobby or something they do in their spare time. However, for others, it is so much more.
In these past 10 months of an uncomfortable and uncertain era, countless people have lost their jobs or have had to make major adjustments. That goes for performers too. Actors and actresses in live theater have not seen the stage for a very long time and have not been able to feed off of the audience’s energy like they used to.
Most of these actors have lost their jobs and for many of them, that was all they had. During these times, people that prefer to enjoy live arts from a distance have been feeling gloomy or like something is missing. The actors feel that same gloom and depression while they are not only jobless but they also unable to do what they love.
For TV shows and films, productions were halted until further notice during the first few months. Once a reliable COVID test had been created, people were finally able to start planning to resume filming. It wasn’t until late July or early August that we began to see some of our favorite stars preparing to go back to work. These stars have very strict precautionary restrictions and are tested every day before they can come to set. While it is a slow and difficult process for these actors, it is definitely a start of some normalcy in the TV world.
While these actors, actresses and other performers haven’t been able to do what they love or see family and friends like the rest of us, numerous actors and actresses have taken to social media to provide encouragement and hope in this time.
“The pandemic is not over just because you’re over it! Please … for yourself and your loved ones WEAR A MASK,” Demi Lovato posted on her Instagram back in July 2020.
It is the performers like Lovato that have brought some light into the darkness because it reminds us that we’re not alone and we’re all facing this together.
On the bright side, theaters around the world are laying out plans to reopen in a way that is safe for actors and patrons to return. Broadway, NYC is aiming to reopen in May of this year, but things probably won’t feel “back to normal” until late summer or early fall. Most other theaters are waiting until fall to provide the maximum amount of time for people to get vaccinations.
While all of these performers have temporarily lost a piece of themselves, they will return. The lights will shine, the orchestra will play, the screens will fill with films as the actors come back home to their stage.
