1 minute read
DEFINING A NEW SEASON
by Rae Geoffrey, Managing Director Wortham Center for the Performing Arts
We had our first staff meeting, in person, at the Wortham Center in 14 months.
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In a typical season, around this time of year, we block out an entire morning to have a lively brainstorming session, during which we decide on a theme to define the next season and lead the design of the season brochure.
“We need one word. Let’s hear your ideas.”
Crickets.
Maybe it was the huge chasms of space between us as we sat, fully vaccinated, at socially distanced single person tables. Perhaps it was the awkwardness of meeting in person, free from the confines of Zoom boxes that once defined our space.
It’s possible we were preoccupied with how to drink our coffees and stay masked. Do we lift, sip and replace? Or is it OK to remove the mask temporarily for the sake of a caffeine fix?
I suspect it was the aftershocks of a year of pandemic trauma, stops and starts, programs held in courtyards and parking lots, packing up equipment in thunderstorms, communicating through screens, layoffs, unemployment, trepidation, uncertainty, fear, homeschooling and the many other challenges COVID presented.
I threw out a few prompts: How do you feel when you sit together in the theatre for a performance? How is live performance different than virtual? What does it mean to return to being together, in person, to experience art? What does it mean for Wortham to be full of audiences and artists again?
Eventually we created a nice, sloppy list of words and phrases — each tinged with hope, humor and marketing promise. It wasn’t perfect, but we did it.
Return, Expand, Larger Than Yourself, Happy, Rejoice, Be Inspired, Gather, Moving, Shared, Collective, Bright Lights, Essential, Open, Exhilarating, Live, I Need a Drink, As One, Arriving, Expand, Happy, Core, Elevating, Action, Together Again, In Person, Show Me the Money, Growing, Center, Thriving, Lift.
It’s been a long year, but we’re ready to fight through the fog of the past 14 months to embody these words and more.
So now it’s your turn. What words would you choose?
