COVID-19 Update Theatrical Outfit

Theatrical Outfit

Matt Torney

Artistic Director

www.theatricaloutfit.org

Responding to public safety concerns and published health guidelines regarding the coronavirus contagion, Theatrical Outfit officially closed its doors to patrons and staff on March 16, cutting short the run of the Tony Award-winning drama Indecent. Since that date, the company stage has remained dark while the staff works remotely from home. On Saturday, May 20, Theatrical Outfit held its annual gala as a fully virtual event across multiple social media platforms.

“While the specifics cannot be revealed just yet, the fall season will shift to focus on new work and the launch of Made in Atlanta, a brand new program dedicated to telling Atlanta’s stories,” offers marketing director Ryan Oliveti.

Theatrical Outfit hopes to present three mainstage productions in the 2020-21 season. Plans are underway to shift the beginning of the schedule to an online format while the spring schedule remains uncertain due to the pandemic.

“I believe that COVID will have an incredible impact on the arts scene, both in the United States and globally,” says Theatrical Outfit artistic director Matt Torney. “The extraordinary economic disruption, which will do irreparable harm to both artists and institutions, plus the combined impact of the pandemic and the BLM movement, are causing all of us to ask deep questions about the art we make, the role of art in our communities, and the systems upon which our work is built.”

Torney continues, “I believe that the theaters which will succeed post-COVID will be the ones that have engaged with issues of racial equity and gender parity, re-imagined how their work intersects with their cities and communities, and have reinvented how they use technology to engage with their patrons.”