Looking Forward in a Time of Flux

*update 10/15/2020: Theatres are moving into virtual live-streamed and recorded events, a few in-person events with safety protocols + limited audience + distancing. Theater communities are looking for ways to share the work we do during this changing and challenging time - working with new works from BIPOC artists, producing and performing in new ways and avenues. There are some exciting events coming up which will have interpreters on-site and on-screen, as we all navigate this new territory.*

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In-person theater for the remainder of the 2019-20 season was cancelled or postponed. The medical  and scientific communities are still monitoring the coronavirus, watching trends, making predictions. We are living in a time of constant flux - globally, nationwide, and locally. There are many conversations happening around performances of all kinds, with the exploration of options and possibilities. New forms are being created or old ones revised. But, for now, live theater in a closed space with 100 or 200 or 800 people is months away; current predictions are 6-18 months. Broadway in NYC announced there will be no productions for the remainder of 2020; other performance venues and companies are following suit. There may not be a 2020-21 season; or there may be a shortened one. One thing is for certain, whatever 2020-21 season we have will be different.

I am continuing to work with a few local theater on providing access for productions as things change. And change again. There are some exciting possibilities ahead - which I can't tell you, yet, because there is still so much which is unknown. Theatre is not dead - it is being adapted to this requirements of this current time we are living in. I will continue to try to share online opportunities as they become available, as new forms are created and shared, as I find new Deaf productions being shared. I look forward to the time when we can be in the room together, sharing laughter and breath and tears and surprise and wonder with the actors on the stage and tech crew in the booth and backstage. Until that time, let's keep our creativity alive and support the efforts of each other as we navigate distancing and face masks and large gathering bans.

You can also check us out on Facebook @paiaPDX, where there are links to Deaf productions, conversations about signing in theatre, online Deaf film and arts events, Deaf improv comedy, and more.