The livestreams that won us round to online theatre in 2020
Exeunt’s writers look back on a year of livestreams, and the journey from despondency to hope.
Normally, getting to grips with a new medium and a new artform is something you do by choice; “this winter I’ll get really into Twine”, you say to yourself, with no special urgency attached. But 2020 was the year when anyone interested in theatre and performance was ushered (or dragged, vigorously protesting that “it’s not the same!”) into the world of livestreaming. There was sometimes a sense of accompanying responsibility to be upbeat about the Zoom shows you saw. This was a form being born (or at least forced to abruptly mature) during an ongoing onslaught of horrendous world events, and carping about technological mishaps felt as mean-spirited as criticising the tuning at a nursery carol concert. But then, livestreaming started to grow up. Theatre companies started to stage productions especially for the camer