We've already had any number of online plays (and even some musicals and cabarets) that have dealt with issues surrounding the pandemic, and often using Zoom not just as a presentation platform but as part of the realism of the pieces themselves, etc. I think that once we're able to go back to the theatre for real, people won't want to be reminded of all that quite so fast, and in fact will want to escape all that.
That being said, conversely, I also tend to wonder if the use of video in live performance (the Van Hove West Side Story, for instance) won't be seen quite as controversially as it was pre-pandemic. It may be that artists will actually see more opportunities and value in using video in conjunction with live performance, now that we've been forced to use that medium in new ways. Just as in real life, I doubt that Zoom will go away given that people have now found practical uses for it. Just that we won't want to use it for everything. |
