Stage Listings

thoughtful, which tends not to fi t into this equation.”

“The tragedy isn’t just that knowledgeable, experienced, caring voices on the arts are being jettisoned wholesale,” says Mark Dawidziak, former TV critic at the Plain Dealer, “but that they are being tossed aside at a time when their voices are most needed.”

CRITICISM AMIDST COVID-19

Since the closing of arts venues due to COVID-19 beginning in March 2020, it’s been estimated that, nationwide, almost 1.4 million performing arts related jobs and $42.5 billion in sales have been lost. The arts scene in London between 1603 and 1613 suffered similar devastation when festivals and playhouses were shut down for a total of 78 months – more than 60% of the time – because of recurring bubonic plague outbreaks. When theatergoers reluctantly returned, they found that the quarantined Shakespeare had written “Measure for Measure” and put the fi nishing touches on “King Lear,” “Macbeth,” and “Antony and Cleopatra.”

Only now are some Cleveland theaters, galleries, halls and museums reopening for business, and audiences – like their Elizabethan counterparts – are fi nding revised performance seasons that include original and innovative works created during quarantine and refl ective of their recent struggles to survive. But audiences are still hesitant to return to indoor venues, citing health concerns as the overriding factor.

“I worry that without numerous, diverse voices writing about and bringing greater visibility to the arts, it will make the work of professional theaters to bounce back and thrive considerably more diffi cult in the years to come,” says Nathan Motta, artistic director at Dobama Theatre in Cleveland Heights.

In light of the past 15 months and their devastating impact on the arts, perhaps arts critics still employed and with access to

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Not according to some of our area’s most high-profi le working critics – specifi cally the News-Herald’s Mark Meszoros, the Akron Beacon Journal’s Kerry Clawson and Scene’s Christine Howey.

Some, myself and Clawson included, feel an obligation to chronicle how arts organizations have adapted to connect with audiences during the pandemic and call attention to the fi nancial challenges they’ve faced. But few feel particularly compelled to overtly advocate for the arts as we begin to review, believing that audiences will return when they are psychologically and fi nancially ready to do so. “I certainly want to see the Northeast Ohio arts scene thrive,” notes Meszoros, “but my primary obligation is to my readers.”

And fewer still feel the need to adjust our critical expectations and evaluations based on a “pandemic curve” – that is, the fi nancial struggles of the past 15 months, the diffi cult rehearsal protocols and the decreased budgets. Says Howey, “I owe the theaters and all the creative people involved my honesty, and that’s what I attempt to provide.”

Playwright Oscar Wilde once warned an age without criticism is “an age that possesses no art at all.” He never could have imagined an age when the arts are eager for resurgence, but there are few critical voices to herald their return.

STAGE LISTINGS

BECK CENTER FOR THE ARTS

17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood P: 216-521-2540 : beckcenter.org Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood is thrilled to produce Neil Simon’s classic comedy “Broadway Bound,” featuring venerable stage and screen actor, Austin Pendleton. Season tickets for the entire 202122 Professional Theater Season are on sale now. Single tickets are on sale at 216-521-2540 ext. 10 and beckcenter.org/professional-theater. 2021-22 Season • Sept. 10 to Oct. 3, 2021: “Broadway Bound” • Oct. 8 to Nov. 7, 2021: “The Exonerated” • Dec. 3 to Jan. 2, 2022: “Elf The Musical” • Feb. 4-27, 2022: “LIZZIE The Musical” • April 1 to May 1, 2022: “Meteor Shower” • May 27 to June 26, 2022: “The Legend of Georgia McBride” • July 8 to Aug. 7, 2022: “Something Rotten!”

CESEAR’S FORUM

2796 Tinkers Lane, Twinsburg Kennedy’s, Playhouse Square, 1501 Euclid Ave., Cleveland P: 330-405-3045 : cesearsforum.com Cesear’s Forum will present Joan Didion’s “The Year Of Magical Thinking,” featuring Julia Kolibab. Following the loss of her husband and daughter, the work about coping, in this time of pandemic, is distinctly resonant. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Nov. 5 through Dec. 11, with two Sunday performances at Playhouse Square. 2021-22 Season • Nov. 5 to Dec. 11: “The Year of Magical Thinking”