Theatre - Letter to Returning Students

Dear Students, 

I want to thank everyone for their patience and grace while the administration, faculty, and Deans have been figuring out the best way to navigate these unsettling times. This has been an immensely stressful and challenging period for all of us; a time of loss, uncertainty, and serious concern for our collective future. We have been hard at work with a series of plans attempting, as best we can, to address that future while also being mindful of the need to comply with policies that are being set by the University. Some of this is outside our control and we will need to make space to adjust as we continue to move forward. Our goal is to do our very best to serve you while working within a variety of mandated guidelines that are being put in place. I know many of you have received information from your Concentration Head on several of these contingency plans. In all of these scenarios our first priority is the health and safety of our students and faculty. With that uppermost in our minds, here is a provisional draft of where we are with plans for next year: 

(1) We will resume classes, per usual, the first Tuesday after Labor Day, September 8, 2020. It is highly likely that these will begin on Zoom. 

(2) We anticipate that by late October or early November 2020, we will begin to return to campus in small numbers (the exact number to be determined). A certain amount of work will continue on Zoom and a certain amount of work (e.g., rehearsals, scene-work, one-on-one advising) will begin to happen in the studio and the classroom. These “labs” are a special dispensation which we are seeking from the University. It is one of the few times that the sciences and the arts actually rhyme since we share the need to be in rooms with others in order to continue our work. These labs will adhere to the University’s guidelines on social distancing. We also anticipate that these will be taught in a hybrid format that allows for in-person instruction and are also accessible via Zoom. 

We encourage you to be in New York City by September 8th to better take advantage of the opportunity to meet in-person. However, for those who experience a delay in obtaining a visa or for other reasons cannot relocate, instructors will be flexible as possible to allow you time to relocate. To accommodate those who cannot arrange to move to NYC for the fall semester, classes will be held in a hybrid format (in person and via Zoom) for the remainder of the fall semester. We would like all students to be in NYC by January for the start of the spring semester. 

(3) As we move from the first into the second semester, we anticipate that these lab conditions will continue to expand so that more in-person instruction can happen while allowing for classes to continue in a hybrid format as needed. 

(4) The bulk of our productions - theses, festivals, 2nd year presentations – will adhere to the lab session schedule. The lab session calendar anticipates work being done through mid-July 2021 (at no additional cost to you). Obviously, many of you plan on working outside of Columbia during the summer. This extended production time into the summer is a safety net for those of you who couldn’t get their production work done during the spring and are free to realize it in this summer format. With this safety net, we should be able to manage all the production work required. If some productions have to spill into the following year, so be it. 

We will have to be nimble and smart in our work. This is what we theatre folks do best. If we find there is a chance to mount productions earlier in the fall, we will quickly seize that opportunity. To map our productions on best practices as advised by medical experts, we will reschedule our season. So, shows will be mounted in order of cast size, from smallest to largest. 

These are the broad strokes of what we are contemplating for the coming term. If you have questions, please address these to your Concentration Head. They are currently in the process of working out the details and can provide you a better sense of the programmatic gradations of your cohort. 

As I learn more, I promise to let you know. I certainly will reach out to you throughout the summer with further details as they develop. Again, I want to thank everyone for their collective patience and grace, as we have all been dealing with this new and sobering reality. Most importantly, I hope that this note finds you, your families, and your loved ones well. I know I speak for our entire faculty, staff, and administration when I say we hold you all in our hearts and are sending you good wishes during these trying times. Stay well and I look forward to seeing and talking to you all very, very soon. 

All the best,

Brian