Welcome back to Spring Semester 2020 v2.0.
During this time I have been thinking about the giant Care sign we mounted at the beginning of the year and how it is not a promise, but a reminder for us to take and give care in everything we do. Theatre is a place of Assembly and as we commence this great experiment, I hope you will consider our combined care in these questions. What is the power of story? What does it mean to be live and present with each other right now? How can theatre hold us together digitally? As we have dispersed from our campus we have become a mesh net across the globe with points of connection extending in all directions. This brings great possibilities and challenges.
The fact that we can not be together physically and must practice physical distance to unify and support our community during this pandemic does not mean that theatre, dance, music, learning, and dialogue (really the stuff of life) must end. We shouldn't surrender the idea of the public under these new imperatives. Let us work to transform our limitations into challenges and our creativity into action.
I want to thank all of our students, staff, and faculty for organizing and taking care of each other in these unprecedented times. Each of you will be receiving an email from your teachers to set up your classes (If you haven’t already). If you do not hear from your teacher this week, please reach out to them and also to me at cmanson@sarahlawrence.edu. As I have mentioned in other emails, I am excited to see the creativity and care we will bring to this new framework. Please read below as we have many updates and make sure to follow out Instagram and Facebook, we plan to community post and share there as much as possible.