The Coronavirus as Left-Wing Theatre
By Robert Cooperman
I need you to stick with me on this one. I promise it will be worth your time.
We are now in the age of the coronavirus and we shall soon see the mettle of our country based on our response to this pandemic. I have no doubt that a play will be written about it soon and it will either be a “Trump didn’t do enough and people died and he has blood on his hands” play, which will have a limited shelf life but will be all the rage for a good month or two; or a heart-rendering, mind-numbing tragedy about all the truly good people who lost their battle with COVID-19 and the one survivor who must live on in a world that’s done him or her wrong. Both will be terrible plays but will be considered “deep” and “thought-provoking,” no doubt spawning a musical by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt (the perpetrators of next to normal and If/Then). If the pandemic doesn’t doom us, the dramatic response to it will.