Theatre Has a Role

The World Theatre Day 2020 has special importance, due to the difficult situation generated by the Coronavirus pandemic. The theatre critics of the world are proud and happy to share the message of the ITI, the World Organization for the Performing Arts, written by Shahid Nadeem, a playwright from Pakistan:

“In today’s world where bigotry, hate and violence is on the rise, […] our planet is plunging deeper and deeper into a climatic catastrophe and […] we need to fight apathy, lethargy, pessimism, greed and disregard for the world we live in, the Planet we live on. Theatre has a role, a noble role, in energizing and mobilizing humanity to lift itself from its descent into the abyss.”

During the Coronavirus pandemic, when theatres and other venues are locked down, we critics stand with theatre artists, as we always do. This is a time for support and compassion with thousands of actors, dancers, singers and stage directors – and critics – whose professional future is suddenly unsafe. 

While longing for normality to return, we note that creativity and new initiatives are flourishing. So we dedicate our time and energy in this period to observing, reporting, and analyzing the many lives of the performing arts, as well as discussing how they communicate with various audiences and with us. 

For the full version of Shahid Nadeem’s text:

https://www.world-theatre-day.org/messageauthor.html

Shorter version:

https://mcusercontent.com/0e2543ad61181f15c2c151595/files/ef63e525-b330-495c-aa2a-0d9bde7f43fd/WTD2020_EN_Message_ShahidNADEEM_ShortVersion.pdf