This Is Who We Are is a series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making during a pandemic. Here, we talk with Associate Professor of Theatre and Playwriting Concentration Head David Henry Hwang about his most recent projects, the challenges of collaboration in the Zoom era, and the power of authenticity in art.
Last March, COVID-19 emerged as a long term threat to our health and our patterns of daily living. Activities we might have taken for granted—dining in a restaurant, booking plane tickets, or seeing a Broadway show—became unavailable as state and local governments moved to stop the spread of the virus. Almost a year later, with over 51 million fully vaccinated Americans, many of the country’s most hard-hit industries have managed a slow return to normal.
But Broadway, one of New York City’s most defining and beloved features, remains closed, not expected to reopen until September of 2021. Despite the necessary but disheartening closures, many artists have demonstrated considerable resiliency, creating virtual projects or working in anticipation of the day when their art will have an in-person audience again.