Baltimore Center Stage To Activate Adaptive Programming And Resources In Wake Of COVID-19 Shutdowns

Baltimore Center Stage has released a statement about its upcoming programming in the wake of COVID-19.

Read the full statement below:

The health and safety of our patrons, artists, and staff is of paramount importance at Baltimore Center Stage. Additionally, we take our financial commitment to our artists, craftspeople, freelancers and staff very seriously. To that end, we have already begun adapting and innovating our practices to preserve as many opportunities as possible for our community. Our next production, Where We Stand, is scheduled to begin performances on April 2. Over the next two weeks, we will continue to assess our path forward while actively exploring the most responsible way to share this production with audiences. We have, however, in consultation with our community partners, made the decision to cancel the Mobile Unit tour of Where We Stand.

"At Baltimore Center Stage, we believe that theater is an essential part of civic life," said Artistic Director Stephanie Ybarra. "For the duration of this crisis (and forever after), we will stand in solidarity with the Baltimore community as a resource, signal booster, storyteller and joy-provider. In these uncertain times, what I know for sure is that storytelling and story-sharing are innate to us as humans, and the act of connecting to each other and escaping to our imaginations will endure."

Importantly, we will remain in the business of storytelling and have developed a plan to activate several distance learning and smaller scale opportunities as the COVID-19 pandemic limits social interactions. We continue to monitor rapidly evolving advice from the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and our State and Local government officials on the best ways to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. It is with that in mind that we have developed our plan to continue to be a resource to the Baltimore community and continue to tell stories and provide community support in the following ways:

Baltimore Center Stage understands that as schools shut down, students and caregivers alike are seeking creativity and escape. Next week, we will begin rolling out BCS Camp at Home-a brand new free Do-It-Yourself learning series for all ages that will feature video classes, hands-on projects, and more, specifically designed by BCS staff artisans and teaching artists. We remain in touch with our Baltimore Public School partners in consideration of school closings to potentially provide teaching artists to lead small group pop-up classes.

Whether or not we are able to convene, Baltimore Center Stage will continue to share storytelling experiences with our community. Our artistic team members are already hard at work curating content from all over the world to share with BCS audiences online. Even amidst a time of social distancing and isolation, we remain committed to finding ways for our communities to stay connected through storytelling.

For more information on Virtual Programming, BCS Camp at Home, and other resources, please go to www.centerstage.org/covid-19.

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