Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Were committed to keeping our readers informed.Weve removed our paywall from essential coronavirus news stories.
Some were rehearsing plays, ready for the brightest spotlight of their three years in drama school.
About-to-graduate playwrights had premieres on the brink of opening; directors had their staging plans in place.
The topsy-turvy economics of an MFA in theater all hinge on the final spring semester.
At least, they did.
All second-semester guns are supposed to be brought to bear on the showcase.
Yale also had the resources to hit the coronavirus ground running.
We got back from spring break, she says, and went straight into Zoom classes.
That speed proved really overwhelming for a lot of classmates, says Pauley.
For me, I felt suspended.
So were emotionally suspended wherever school left you.
Drama students know they are lucky.
For the most part, they dont have kids.
They dont feel unemployed because many didnt expect to have jobs this semester.
I stared out the window for a while before I realized I was fantasizing about Sweden.
But the loss of the showcase is, within this world, titanic.
A lady called Erin talks to you in your headphones, saying Youre doing such a good job!
Mac Mahon thinks of Erin as a friend.
How will he get a job if no one has seen him direct?
And can he get work experience if the industry is still closed?
I knew about those.
I never thought it was going to be easy I just didnt think it would bethishard.
Some are battling existential fears, even as Yale hustles to keep them in training.
Says Sanchez, I personally have not always felt very interested in being an artist!
I dont care about dropping my breath and releasing my spine, you know?
I dont care about acting at the moment!
I want to take a pause, take into account where I am, things like family.
Playwright Diaz is less diplomatic.
Its bleak, bitch, itsdark!
Honestly, is the industry crumbled?
Is it coming back?
Will a launch out of Yale have impact by then?
Lets be real: A launch out of Yale is always going to matter.
The difference in their two experiences is stark.
More doors are open because of the crisis; people feel for you.
Were artists in an industry of workaholics who love what they do.
That falls on the students.
We fund our own showcase and thats the underdog nature of city schools, but it is exhausting.
They are living on loans; theyre not sure what their lives will be.
But we got into a conversation about: How do we keep life going during this?
So he sprung the ring on her.
We had just watchedUncut Gems, he cries.
Theyre now in bliss.
If youreLindsey Steinert, acting class of 2020 at Brown/Trinity in Providence, youre adrift.
The last I heard, she says, was about two weeks ago.
The head of our program emailed us to say wed shoot a multi-camera showcase to be distributed later.
But while the goal is to bring everyone back to Providence, theres no guarantee that will be possible.
And the loss of the physical showcase was still hitting her, hard, day after day.
That was a big part of the reason I came to grad school, she says.
Now theres no work, and Im back to square one being judged on my headshot.
Anyone can look at a headshot.
That unfortunately isnt a lot were not in New York.
