The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on the performing arts businesses, especially local theaters. With complete shutdowns across the nation, theaters have had to cancel or postpone all of their performances, with no opening date in sight. However, companies are working hard to do what they can to preserve and improve the theater in any way they can.

“Theater has lived through pandemics and plagues before, I don’t think that this will kill theater,” said Marti McIntosh, the operations manager for the Northeastern Theater department, who has spent time as a stage manager in the field both on and off Broadway.

In Boston, the phases of reopening have been temporarily put on hold due to the recent spike in cases, which has been pushing the reopening dates of these theaters further into the future.

According to the Boston Globe, Boston allocated $815,000 to the 146 non-profit art institutions in the area. However, this was not enough to support all of the employees in the theaters in the area.

Amid financial uncertainty, local theaters, such as the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre have made an effort to keep their staff and supporters engaged amid their indefinite shutdown.

“I am thinking of all of the actors that can’t be in production and practice their craft,” said Kate Snodgrass, artistic director at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. “I try and go online and watch as much as I can.”

Theatres are quickly adapting to the new reality of having to stage these productions through either a recorded or streamed performance, in hopes to bring the theater into people’s homes.

“We will miss being in that dark room together experiencing some drama,” said Snodgrass.

At Northeastern University, the play “She Kills Monsters,” was supposed to open in April 2020, but got postponed indefinitely. In order to still put on the production, Director Darren Evans, filmed a socially distanced and safe form of the play to release to the Northeastern Theater Community.

“We stayed six feet apart outside and eight feet apart outside. We also got clear masks, so the audience could see their facial expressions” said Evans.

The theater community is actively coming together to support these businesses as much as possible. This year, The Boston Theater Marathon, produced through the Boston Playwrights’ theater, took the opportunity to raise additional money for these organizations. They put on plays virtually over 7 weeks to raise $56,000 for the Theatre Community Benevolent fund, TCBF. The fund has donated a total of $165,577 to the theater community since the beginning of the pandemic.

While the future of the field is unclear, producers and managers are hopeful that the theater community will get through the shutdowns and be stronger than before. Many theaters are taking this time to improve from a racial equality standpoint.

“There are questions of racial equity in theater. In some ways the theater is very progressive, and, in some ways, it is not,” said Evans. “A lot of theaters are spending non-performing time, with the pressure of activists, looking at these issues and trying to be more equitable. It is long overdue and good to see.”

With all of the negatives surrounding the vitality of the arts during the shutdown, these organizations are taking this time as an opportunity to focus on making their community more inclusive, which will lead to a positive new future for the arts.

“This time between both the pandemic and the focus on racial inequality is the opportunity for rebirth,” said McIntosh. “I hope they have taken this opportunity for rebirth.”