Arts and Entertainment in the Era of Coronavirus

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: The Political Scene | The New Yorker
Episode: Arts and Entertainment in the Era of Coronavirus
Date: March 26, 2020
Host: Dorothy Wickenden (Executive Editor, The New Yorker)
Guests: Alexandra Schwartz (Staff Writer, Theater Critic), Emily Witt (Staff Writer)

This episode of The Political Scene explores the profound disruptions that COVID-19 brought to America's arts and entertainment sector. As theaters, concert halls, museums, and galleries abruptly closed, creative livelihoods were jeopardized and artists sought new ways to connect with audiences and sustain their craft. The discussion covers how artists are adapting, the economic precarity within the arts, urgent political relief measures, and how this moment might reshape both the content and consumption of art.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Abrupt Halt of Cultural Life

• Complete Shutdown: Theaters, cinemas, museums, and galleries all closed suddenly (01:16), instantly putting many freelancers and gig workers in crisis.
• Loss of Community: Alexandra Schwartz described the surreal nature of the shutdown and the sense of loss in not being able to experience live performance with a real audience.

  "The theater was there one minute and gone quite literally the next."
  — Alexandra Schwartz (04:03)

Artists’ Creative Adaptations

• Viral Monologues: The "24 Hour Plays" launched a viral monologue series distributed on Instagram TV, providing both comic relief and an outlet for performance in isolation (02:34).
  • Example: Stephen Adly Guirgis’s monologue about a disastrous yoga class, performed by Andre Royo.
  • Memorable excerpt:

    "These Bernie bros and their Bernie hoes, these rich, homeowning SVU driving revolutionaries. They lost their mind... And they stole my yoga mat. I want my yoga mat."
    — (02:47)

• Streaming and Archives: Institutions like the National Theatre (UK), TheatreWorks (LA), and Rattlestick Theatre (NYC) are making recorded performances and audio plays freely available (06:03).
• The Limitations: While digital efforts are appreciated, Schwartz notes, "it's hard, in fact, it's impossible to actually replicate that [live] experience" (06:59).

Financial Devastation in the Arts

• Precarious Work: Many in the arts survive on gig work and have minimal safety nets (07:11).
  • Emily Witt described the "extreme anxiety about how they were going to pay their bills" as gigs evaporated (07:32).
  • Daniel Goldstein (playwright/director) called artists "the original gig workers" with unpredictable incomes and limited access to insurance or benefits (08:26).
  • Schwartz observed, "It's a part of our economy that just doesn't get formal recognition in a lot of ways." (09:31)
• Grassroots Relief Efforts:
  • Immediate grassroots fundraising efforts sprang up on GoFundMe across artistic genres (09:44).
  • Larger organizations subsequently began assembling emergency funds (10:47).

Unprecedented Uncertainty for the Future

• No Timeline for Reopening: Both Schwartz and Witt voiced anxiety that cultural institutions and small venues may never recover without substantial support (11:18).
  • Witt captured the paradox:

    "We are the risk to each other... It's hard to imagine what it will be like for everyone to come together in that kind of enclosed space again."
    (11:36)

• Risk of Losing Venues: Many unique, small New York spaces that constitute the city’s cultural fabric may shutter for good (12:30).

Government Relief Efforts and Policymaking

• Stimulus Bill Details: The Senate passed a bill extending benefits to gig workers and freelancers for the first time, including Disaster Unemployment Assistance and a $600 weekly federal supplement (13:12, 15:27).
• Persistent Concerns:
  • The aid’s sufficiency is questioned, especially considering the open-ended timeline.

    "It's nerve wracking to see how limited that amount is."
    — Alexandra Schwartz (13:58)

  • The idea that support would make workers lazy was dismissed as "insulting" and dismissive of why people participate in the arts.

    "People go to work in the creative professions... for love, of the game, for passion. It sounds like a cliche, but it's really true."
    — Alexandra Schwartz (13:58)

Innovative and Eccentric Digital Performance

• ASMR and New Forms: Alexandra Schwartz discusses the rise of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos and "coronavirus ASMR," as a soothing, if quirky, response to current anxieties (16:25).
  • Explanation of ASMR:

    "A subculture of YouTube video that people make in order to help other people relax..."
    — Alexandra Schwartz (16:50)

  • Notable quote regarding the moment:

    "We're challenged right now and we are looking for something else... to be comforted and to be relaxed and to be soothed."
    — Alexandra Schwartz (17:45)

The Long-Term Impact on the Nature and Business of Art

• Evolution of Art Forms: Playwrights may experiment more with monologues or, conversely, crave collaborative, ensemble works after this period (20:06).
• Industry Conservatism: There’s concern that, as in previous recessions, theaters will become more risk-averse, focusing on crowd-pleasers and sidelining experimental or marginalized voices (20:47):

  "There's a lot of fear that this small piece that somebody takes a risk on that's only seen by 100 people, that eventually becomes a major Broadway play, which just won't be seen."
  — Emily Witt (21:00)

• Potential for Innovation: Dewcreasing rents might paradoxically open more space for experimentation if the recovery is managed well (21:43).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the sudden loss of live theater:
  "I think, like everyone, I'm losing track of time here. So I keep saying to myself, as some way to root myself in actual time, three weeks ago I was at the theater. Four weeks ago I was at the theater."
  — Alexandra Schwartz (04:03)

• On why artists work:
  "People do this for passion. And as we're seeing it now in New York City, it's not just self-interest. This is something... that keeps the city going. This is a world that people depend on for their own inner lives and spiritual lives."
  — Alexandra Schwartz (14:48)

• On the field's precarity:
  "Actors and musicians and performing artists are the original gig workers. They've always worked week to week... Our safety net doesn't really cover a lot of those jobs."
  — Daniel Goldstein via Emily Witt (08:26)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:16 — Dorothy Wickenden introduces the episode and its theme.
• 02:34 — Excerpt from the viral monologue (Andre Royo performance).
• 04:03 — Alexandra Schwartz on the abrupt halting of live performance.
• 06:03 — How organizations are making theater accessible online.
• 07:32 — The financial devastation for artists and description of gig economy struggles.
• 08:26 — Playwright Daniel Goldstein’s insights on the state of gig workers.
• 09:44 — Grassroots fundraising and subsequent institutional relief efforts.
• 11:18 — Comparison to past disasters—9/11, Hurricane Sandy—versus the current moment.
• 13:12–16:25 — Discussion of the stimulus bill and relief measures for gig workers.
• 16:50 — ASMR as an emergent art form in the age of social distancing.
• 20:06 — Speculation on the future evolution of playwriting and theater production.
• 20:47–21:43 — Fears of increased conservatism in post-pandemic theater, but glimmers of hope for innovation if rents drop.

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Conclusion

This episode is a wide-ranging, empathetic exploration of the multiple crises and creative adaptations unfolding in America’s arts communities as a result of COVID-19. By interweaving personal experiences with structural analysis, it provides both a snapshot of immense loss and examples of resilience, adaptation, and, possibly, eventual renewal.

Transcript

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[Dorothy Wickenden]

This is the Political Scene, a weekly conversation with New Yorker writers and guests about Politics. It's Thursday, March 26th. Dorothy I'm Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of the New Yorker. In the past month, the cultural lives of America's cities have come to a halt. Theaters, cinemas, museums and galleries have been shut down. Theatrical productions, concerts, book talks and performances of all kinds have been canceled. Many people involved in the arts, freelancers without salaries or health insurance, currently have no source of income. This dire financial reality and the desire to continue working have inspired artists and entertainers across the country to approach their creative endeavors in new ways. 24 Hour Plays, an organization that has produced live theater all over the world, has launched a viral monologue series featuring monologues that are quickly written, rehearsed, recorded and released on Instagram tv. Participants include Oscar nominee Michael Shannon, Tony winner Daveed Diggs, and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Stephen Adley Girgis, whose monologue about a yoga class turned sour is performed by the TV star Andre Royo.

[Unidentified Caller or Interviewee]

All I said was I like old Joe and I'm not certain Bernie can Win. And boom, the other bitch is going wild.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

La.

[Unidentified Caller or Interviewee]

La Yoga. These Bernie bros and their Bernie hoes, these rich, homeowning SVU driving revolutionaries. They lost their mind. They're gonna ask me to leave. And they stole my yoga mat. I want my yoga mat. It's that big, pink, oversized one.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Alexandra Schwartz and Emily Witt, two New Yorker staff writers, join me to discuss how people who work in the arts are being affected by the coronavirus pandemic and how, even isolated in their homes, many are redefining the nature of performance. Hi, Alex and Emily. Welcome to you both.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Hi, Dorothy.

[Emily Witt]

Great to be here, virtually.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

So, Alex, that monologue which you brought to my attention, I'm very grateful to you for that, really gave me my first good laugh in days. But you're a theater critic and you're suddenly deprived of one of your greatest pleasures, leaving your apartment for Broadway to see a new show and really being part of an audience, experiencing the vicarious excitement of a live performance. Could you talk a little bit about the instantaneous vanishing of New York's performance ecosystem?

[Emily Witt]

Absolutely. It's been surreal as it has been, I know, for people in every field, for people all over the country. The theater was there one minute and gone quite literally the next. That is exactly what it felt like. I was just, I think, like everyone, I'm losing track of time here. So I keep saying to myself, as some way to root myself in actual time, three weeks ago I was at the theater. Four weeks ago I was at the theater. I saw three shows right before the theaters closed.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

What did you see?

[Emily Witt]

Well, the very last things I saw were one of them I wrote about in my previous column for the magazine. Although by the time my column came out, the play itself had closed, which felt like a real tragedy. It was a play called Endlings by Celine Song at the New York Theatre Workshop. Also immediately after that, went out to have a solo pizza by myself, already feeling should I be eating in a restaurant? And then a couple of days later, I went to see Six the musical, which is or is hopefully to be once it opens, let's hope an hour long musical. Really more like a pop concert about Henry VIII's six wives. Already this thing has been a phenomenon in London. And the audience, as far as I could see, was mostly made up of tweens and teens who already know all the songs were singing along, were going wild for this thing had lined up around the block to get into the theater. So thinking about that after I saw it, you just began to realize that it was not going to be possible for these kinds of gatherings to go on. And sure enough, I had actually written a little bit about six in my column. And right before we were going to press the 6th, the production email to say, please don't include it because the show is not going to open. So it really was one minute to the next.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

So the viral monologues are fantastic. What are some of the other ways that artists and organizations are adapting?

[Emily Witt]

Everybody is scrambling to figure this out right now. There is a lot of recorded theater from the past, and I see different organizations trying to make that available to the public, which I think is really great today. The National Theatre in England has said that every Thursday at 7pm UK time, they're going to make a new production available to the public on their YouTube channel. Louisiana. TheatreWorks in LA is putting up streaming productions and also audio. They have a Wendy Wasserstein play up right now that you can listen to. The Rattlestick Theatre in New York City has managed to record the production that was supposed to open called the Siblings Play. People are trying to make this work, which I hugely appreciate, and I do think it's probably a moment also to go into the archives. I just signed up for Broadway hd, which is a Broadway streaming service. I'm about to watch the original Sweeney Todd with Angela Lansbury. So for people who miss being in the theater, it's hard. In fact, it's impossible to actually replicate that experience. But it does feel good to engage with that world, even while we're at home.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

So, Emily, you've been looking into the financial devastation that many people in the arts are facing. Writers, dancers, actors, musicians, art te, art gallery employees. The list goes on and on. Even in normal times, the performing arts are among the most precarious professions. What are you hearing from actors, dancers and others?

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Yeah, I mean, on those first days when everything got canceled, which I think were March 11 and March 12, I didn't even realize how many friends I have that make a living in these kind of micro scenes in New York, whether they teach music or, or they DJ or they perform as a drag performer in nightclubs. You know, people that aren't on Broadway necessarily, but still make a little living for themselves in the arts. And it was just, you know, looking at social media in those days, it was just total devastation and really extreme anxiety about how they were going to pay their bills and, and even buy groceries in the coming weeks.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

You also, Emily, talked to the playwright and theater director Daniel Goldstein, and he had some interesting things to say.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Yeah, Daniel is his day Job as an associate director on the Broadway play Come From Away. But he's also a playwright and he had a show opening, a musical called the Unknown Soldier, that was just in its opening week at Playwrights Horizon the week that everything got canceled. And, and what he told me, and what's true is that actors and musicians and performing artists are the original gig workers. They've always worked week to week. You know, unless you work for some kind of institution or you're in a company, you've gone from gig to gig and that's how you make a living. And our safety net doesn't really cover a lot of those jobs.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Yeah, he talked about himself as a handyman and, you know, it's a very good analogy. New York's paid sick leave law does not cover contract workers. And freelancers in the arse have really high self employment taxes, as you've mentioned, and health insurance costs, you know, they don't have 401ks, no disability insurance. It's really, really something.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Yeah, it's a part of our economy that just doesn't get formal recognition in a lot of ways.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

What are, Emily, what are artists doing to compensate for these lost jobs?

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Well, in the initial aftermath, what happened was a lot of grassroots fundraising on websites like GoFundMe. So the first fundraising site that I saw came from Seattle, and that was just crowdsourced money that was providing direct cash grants to artists. And then those sprang up all around the country and really in every genre. So if you're into bluegrass music or jazz or you're into dance, there's a. I promise, there's a GoFundMe site for it. And those sites were really important to fill the gap as institutions and foundations who have a longer lag time scrambled to figure out better solutions. So now a couple weeks later, you're seeing major nonprofits like Dance NYC or the Grammys or Actors Equity getting foundational support and organizing their own, you know, emergency funds.

[Emily Witt]

America is changing and so is the world. But what's happening in America isn't just the cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.

[Emily Witt]

Tristan Redman in London, and this is the Global Story.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Every weekday, we'll bring you a story.

[Emily Witt]

From this intersection where the world and America meet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

New York's performing arts scene has been damaged before. We saw it in the aftermath of 911 and Hurricane Sandy. But we haven't ever seen closures on this scale. And of course, no one knows when cultural institutions will be able to open again. What are you hearing about that, Alex?

[Emily Witt]

I think it's an open question, and no one really knows what to think about it. I mean, one of the major psychological challenges of COVID 19, especially in the performing arts community, is that we are the risk to each other. That's a situation that's totally different than it was during Hurricane Sandy or after 9, 11, that the idea of sitting next to a stranger, which to me is something that gives me great pleasure. It also can be, I want to say, before we sentimentalize this too much, a huge annoyance. But I'm finding I'm even missing the annoyance of the guy chewing gum next to me or someone sort of coughing nearby. These are human moments. These are the reasons we go to the theater. And given how jumpy everyone is now and I think will continue to be, it's hard to imagine what it will be like for everyone to come together in that kind of enclosed space again. That said, I'm really looking forward to the moment when it can happen.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Yeah. I mean, there's no timeline in place. And for me, a few days after all this started, it really set in that the places that I'm missing are not just going to reappear and reconstitute themselves if and when we are able to gather together again. That a lot of these small venues, these underground spots in New York, which is why we live here, because we get to access all of these things, a lot of them aren't going to make it. People are going to leave town. They're not going to be able to afford their rent. And it's a tragedy. But like Alex, I just look forward to the day when we all get to hang out together again.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

One thing that Americans are experiencing for the first time in a very long time is the function of the national government. So the Senate stimulus bill passed unanimously last night, but only after a failed attempt by Lindsey Graham, Rick Scott, Ben Sasse, and Tim Scott to reduce the unemployment benefits it contained. They complained that the provision would incentivize people, as they put it, not to return to work. So as of this recording, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised to get the bill pushed through the House on Friday. And I'm sure that will happen for the very first time. As I understand it, it expands jobless aid to freelancers and gig workers. And I wonder, Alex, if you could talk a little bit about that and whether it'll Be enough to keep them going.

[Emily Witt]

Well, I think it's hard to say whether it will be enough. It will depend very much on how long this goes on, on how long people are forced out of work. It's a very tenuous and precarious situation. And while I am extremely glad and grateful that something is being offered to freelancers, to gig workers, to workers in general, it's nerve wracking to see how limited that amount is. The other thing I would say is about the concern that people would be incentivized not to work because they'd be so glad for these government handouts. First of all, that's insulting to workers. Second of all, just talking about the creative fields, that completely misunderstands why people go to work. People go to work in the creative professions, in the performing arts, in the technical professions, in the performing arts, in all of these things. For love, of the game, for passion. It sounds like a cliche, but it's really true. There's no other reason to do some of this crazy stuff to fly by the seat of your pants. Even in the best of times, people do this for passion. And as we're seeing it now in New York City, it's not just self interest. This is something. This is an economy that keeps the city going. This is a world that people depend on for their own inner lives and spiritual lives. This is a major thing. The very least I think that the government can do is to offer some kind of reassurance to people who are out of work that they can get through this.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Yeah, I mean, as I understand it, the stimulus basically allows gig workers to earn what they earned before using a formula that is usually used after natural disasters. It's called the Disaster Unemployment Assistance Program. So hopefully under that, people will be able to earn what they were earning, earning more or less, at least for a while. And then they'll also be eligible for this $600 weekly benefit that the federal government is going to give to people who earn less than $75,000 a year. And as far as funding for institutions, there's some in there. This was very contested by Republicans that there was $25 million for the Kennedy center for the Arts, which is essentially a federal agency. It's funded by congressional appropriations. So without any money, that place would just disappear.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Alex, I wanted to hear a little bit more from you about the innovative and also occasionally slightly creepy things people are creating. So you've written a piece for the magazine that I got a sneak preview of and will appear in the magazine next week. And you talk about asmr, which has been around for a while, but has pretty much been confined to a kind of digital netherworld, or what is it? And why has it become more popular right now?

[Emily Witt]

Yes, I wrote about ASMR because in looking at performances that actors were making on Instagram and other live platforms, I thought about what it means to be an audience member with this sort of one to one ratio where it's just you in your home and it's just the performer in their home and you're looking directly at them, they're speaking directly to their camera. And I thought of asmr, which is an Internet genre, that it is another world, but it's a, it's a big one. There are, there are millions of people watching these videos. I guess the best way to describe it is as a subculture of YouTube video that people make in order to help other people relax. The idea is that certain triggers, as they're called, maybe whispering, maybe tapping with long fingernails on a computer keyboard, maybe popping gum or even bubble wrap will produce sounds that trigger a certain relaxation in other people. So these videos are weird. I will say that I've been watching them for years. This is sort of my opportunity to come out in the pages of the New Yorker as not just a theater critic, but also my own kind of Internet weirdo. But they're creative in a very niche. And strange way, you know, in other times, we want performance really to unsettle us, to shake us out of the way we're used to living our lives, to challenge our complacency. We're challenged right now and we are looking for something else. We are looking to be comforted and to be relaxed and to be soothed as we try to get through this thing. So these performers, ASMR performers, or as the technical term I will say is ASMRtists, are trying to calm people down. And one sub genre, sure enough of these videos that has popped up are coronavirus ASMR videos.

[Medical Professional]

So we will be doing a few tests on you. The first one we are going to do is the strep throat test to see if you have strep throat. And the way this will work is if you don't have strep throat, we are going to go ahead and test you for a. Some kind of bacterial infection in your lungs. And then after that, if they both come back negative, we are going to test you for the coronavirus. So the next, you just have the next few steps. You just have to be patient. Don't Overwork yourself.

[Emily Witt]

You know, some people will find this very strange, I'm well aware, but others may take comfort from it, and that's the hope.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Stepping back from these immediate creative responses, I've been wondering about the long term effects of this lockdown. And you know, as you mentioned earlier, Alex, you can tape theater and screen it and stream it, and that's fantastic. It gives more people access to shows. It's a wonderful thing to do that when we can't get out of the house. But it is only a facsimile of the real thing. And we. I wanted to ask what you think about the ways in which we. How the ways in which we consume art will be changed over the long term.

[Emily Witt]

Well, one thing I'm wondering right now is for playwrights what they will write during this period of confinement. The 24 hour viral monologues are already one response to that, and the answer is in the name. They're monologues. That's the technology that we have available right now, people performing monologues to us. And I wonder, as playwrights sit at home and think if they'll be tempted to keep going with the monologue form. I could see that coming out of this. I could also see the reverse. People who want to make big ensemble pieces, as if you can only paint with blue for a month, you suddenly want to use every color of the rainbow. So I'm very curious to see what will come out of that.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Yeah, I mean, one thing that people I interviewed mentioned to me was that in other times of recession, what happens afterward is companies get really conservative with what they choose to produce and they go back to crowd pleasers and they're not so into trying new things or weird things. You know, plays that tend to favor the establishment, which is also traditionally, you know, white men. And so there's a lot of fear that this small piece that somebody takes a risk on that's only seen by 100 people, that eventually becomes a major Broadway play which just won't be seen. So there's a lot of fear around that, I think.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

On the other hand, you could see a version of that where some of these things take off that would not have been thought to be terribly successful. And perhaps that will have a emboldening effect.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Yeah. And what might happen in New York if rents go down? I mean, that could offer small experimental places a lot more freedom, actually, than they've had in some ways.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Well, on that somewhat hopeful note, thank you both so much for joining me and hope to speak to you again before too long.

[Emily Witt]

Thank you, Dorothy.

[Alexandra Schwartz]

Thanks, Dorothy.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Alexandra Schwartz is a theater critic and staff writer at the New Yorker. Emily Witt is a staff writer and the author of the books Future Sex and the Making of a Film Empire. This has been the political scene. You can subscribe to this and other New Yorker podcasts by searching for the New Yorker in your podcast app and find more political analysis and commentary on newyorker.com feel free to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. Our theme music is by Russell Gillespie. This program was produced by Alex Barron and Kylie Warner. For newyorker.com I'm Dorothy Wickenden.

[Katie Drummond]

What the hell is going on right now and why is it happening like this? At Wired, we're obsessed with getting to the bottom of those questions on a daily basis. And maybe you are too. I'm Katie Drummond, the global Editorial Director of Wired and I'm hosting our new podcast series, the Big Interview. Each week I'll sit down with some of the most interesting, provocative and influential people who are shaping our right now. Big Interview conversations are fun.

[Emily Witt]

I want a shark that that eats.

[Katie Drummond]

The Internet, that turns it all off, unfiltered and unafraid.

[Emily Witt]

So in a lot of ways I try to be an antidote to the unimaginable faucet of reactionary content that you see online. To the best of my ability.

[Katie Drummond]

Every week we going to offer you the ultimate luxury of our times, meaning and context. True or false? You Brian Johnson, the man sitting across.

[Emily Witt]

From me, one day, at some point.

[Katie Drummond]

As of yet undefined in the future, you will die.

[Emily Witt]

False.

[Katie Drummond]

Tell me more. Listen to the Big Interview right now in the same place you find WIRED's Uncanny Valley podcast. Subscribe or follow wherever you get your your podcasts.

[Unidentified Caller or Interviewee]

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