Theater companies adjust to uncertain times during COVID-19
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Theater companies around
the borough are adjusting to
uncertain times as the spread
of novel coronavirus puts all
in-person performances on
hold and forces some organizations
to pivot to virtual performances.
At the same time,
others have assumed entirely
new roles — even as the health
crisis continues to ravage the
industry.
“My whole adult life my profession
has been theater and
that whole profession has been
shut down,” said Dick Zigun, a
playwright and the unoffi cial
Mayor of Coney Island.
At the onset of the crisis, Zigun
had to cut short a monthsin
the-works sci-fi rock opera
about a brain-eating jukebox
with the Coney Island-based
thespian troupe Funhouse Philosophers,
which was supposed
to debut in March.
Coney Island USA, the nonprofi
t on Surf Avenue that was
supposed to host the play, laid
off Zigun, as well as three other
workers — but that has not
stopped him from keeping the
28 COURIER LIFE, MAY 1-7, 2020
ON WITH THE SHOW: (Left to right) Mutual aid organizer Samantha Johnson gets food ready for distribution
at the experimental theater Jack. Jack co-director Jordana De La Cruz delivers food. Coney Island USA’s Dick
Zigun gives his weekly address. Photos by Alec Duffy (left and center) and YouTube (right)
artist community connected
in the People’s Playground and
beyond.
On April 12, he launched
a weekly Sunday address as
mayor, modeled after his City
Hall counterpart Bill de Blasio
and Governor Andrew Cuomo,
with updates on Coney’s arts
scene, such as the fate of the
famed Mermaid Parade, what’s
happening with performances
at the Circus Sideshow, and the
recently-launched face mask
design contest.
In an effort to support the organization
until it can reopen,
Coney Island USA also plans to
launch pay-to-view streaming
content later this week via Patreon,
Zigun said.
Meanwhile, in Clinton Hill,
directors of the experimental
and activist theater Jack have
decided to repurpose their Putnam
Avenue space into a food
distribution hub with the help
of mutual aid group We Keep
Us Safe Abolitionist Network.
“We saw that we had an
empty space and we knew that
we wanted to be of some service
to relief efforts and we had this
beautiful space that could be
used,” said Alec Duffy, one of
the directors of the company,
which closed up shop in mid-
March.
The mutual aid group has
served about 100 families a
week — mostly public housing
residents — with groceries,
prepackaged foods, and produce,
and some artists Jack has
worked with in the past have
joined in on the effort.
“It’s a pretty tremendous
and inspiring action that
they’re taking right now,”
Duffy said.
The theater company also
plans to transform itself into
an online civic forum, with an
upcoming town hall of candidates
to replace longtime local
state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery
on May 11.
“We’ve always thought of
ourselves also as a civic space,
not just a performance space,”
Duffy said.
Larger organizations such
as Bric in Fort Greene have
launched virtual series of artist
interviews, musical performances,
and dance parties.
Bric’s programming includes
variations of the in-person exhibits
the performance center
had to close, such as a talk with
an artist from the group show
“Death Becomes Her,” hosted
in partnership with Green-
Wood Cemetery.
But, online programing
aside, the organization — like
others across the borough — is
still seeking support to keep its
staff and performances in operation
during the health crisis,
according to its president. An
online relief fund for Bric has
already collected more than
$133,000 as of April 28.
BY JESSICA PARKS
Brooklyn art galleries are
dispatching their events and
programs to support artists
who may be experiencing a
creative block cooped up in
their homes during the ongoing
pandemic.
“When we decided to close
the space in early March, the
immediate concern was how
we could keep our audiences
engaged,” said Roxana Fabius,
executive director of AIR Gallery
in Dumbo. “It is really intended
to keep people engaged
not only with us, but also with
each other.”
AIR Gallery in Dumbo
launched an “Intimacy Without
Proximity” program compiling
exhibits, workshops
and events produced in partnership
with members of the
gallery’s art network.
“Many of the people who
are curating or organizing
these with us, our partners
in these projects, are people
who have been a part of the
AIR community for some time
now, and are coming back
and engaging our community
through these networks,” said
Nicole Kaack, associate director
of the gallery.
In an effort to spark creativity
in the art community, art
gallery alumni Alison Owen
is issuing new prompts every
other night to inspire artists
in their own studio work.
“The program is really wonderful
in diversifying the idea
of what practice can be to folks
who don’t have access to their
studio,” said Kaack, “opening a
way to get creative with lower
stakes potentially.”
Staying connected is especially
important for artists
as they often draw from their
surroundings in their creations,
according to gallery directors.
“It is precisely the kind of
lack of access to cultural output
that is limiting their own
ability of feeling of being able
to make,” Kaack said. “So
much of art practice is a dialogue
of what you see around
you, and not seeing is like the
greatest preventer.”
Other art curators in the
neighborhood have also compiled
virtual media to continue
to bring art into people’s
lives during the days of selfisolation.
Klompching Gallery organized
a virtual exhibit called
“Artists on Artists,” in which
creators selected one of their
artworks and shared their
personal interpretation of the
piece. Some of the works in
the exhibit are also available
for sale, proceeds of which
will help support the gallery
through the pandemic.
Meanwhile, arts organization
Smack Mellon is featuring
the work of popular artist
Summer McCorkle, who
was debuting a new exhibit at
the gallery at the onset of the
crisis, on their website. Her
video, “des abends” is available
online at www.smackmellon.
org.
Just playing all the angles
Local galleries bring art online
to spark creativity in artists
BROOKLYN
Inspiration clicks
MEAT AND GREET: Crys Yin, Meat No.13, 2020 was created with waterbased
crayon on paper and ties into the “Intimacy Without Proximity”
program. Photo courtesy of A.I.R. Gallery.
/www.smackmel-lon.org
/www.smackmel-lon.org
/www.smackmel-lon.org