Arts Alive San Antonio

By JASMINA WELLINGHOFF, Editor —

The past few months have been tough on arts organizations. Theaters and concert halls sat dark and silent while managers and artistic directors struggled to find novel ways to engage their audiences and stay afloat despite dwindling funding and no ticket sales. The Classic Theater of San Antonio was no exception.

“For the past three months, it has been like having whiplash every day,” said the Classic’s executive/artistic director Kelly Roush. “The best way I can talk about it is that we all thought it was just an interruption. So, we had to close “Our Town” mid-March but we were planning to bring it back in eight weeks. We were just going to be ‘on pause’ for two months, we thought. In eight weeks, we can figure this out, we thought.”

Eventually everyone realized that the “interruption” was turning into a major “disruption.”

“The whole world was being disrupted,” she added. “The question became, how were we to move forward with what we do – creating excellent theater for a vibrant city – while keeping everyone, our patrons, actors, volunteers and staff safe.”

Roush and her staff soon figured out that social distancing would likely be required for a long time, well into 2021. In the Classic’s intimate space, which normally seats about 100 theatergoers, social distancing would reduce the audience to about ten people  which clearly was not a viable option.

That’s when Roush first had the idea of moving shows outdoors. She thought of ancient Greece where plays were performed in large outdoor amphitheaters, and she considered the many popular Shakespeare-in-the-Park performances, and other typical “summer-stock.” It may be too hot in July, but come fall, the weather here will be perfect for alfresco shows. The open air is the safest environment for both performers and audiences, she decided. 

So, last week, the company announced that “the Classic’s 13^th season will be a season of Theater in the Rough”. It may seem like a bold move yet numerous European summer festivals do it every summer to the delight of both tourists and local populations. In San Antonio, weather permits outdoor gatherings practically year-round.

However, instead of the usual 5-show mainstage schedule plus a Second Series of smaller productions, only three plays will be planned for the 2020-21 season with flexibility and portability in mind. Like in ancient Greece, the focus will be on the actors and the script, with minimal sets and simplified costumes. Roush could not reveal the location or locations they were considering because negotiations were still ongoing with the venues but she did say that they were looking at ‘green spaces.’”

While uncertainty about the near future has become the new normal, Roush is taking the long view.

“Stories will continue, they just won’t be in our theater,” she noted. “We still need them and want to get together to have that live, shared experience. But I keep thinking, nothing is going to be the same again.”