A Prayer for the Theatre World as Broadway Stays Dark

Post Author: Elizabeth Grasham

Creating God,

The author is photographed here in her role as Salome Musgrove in Grand Canyon University’s 2006 production of The Robber Bridegroom.

Your children are out-of-joint.

They tap dance as they stock shelves,
they sing to themselves as they apply for unemployment,
they recite monologues as they tend their sourdough starters,
the show is stopped, only going on in their hearts.

Your children are out-of-sorts.
The only lights to run are Christmas icicles along November roofs,
the only costuming is for Zoom Halloween parties,
the only makeup done is whatever can be seen above the mask,
the show is stopped, only going on in their hearts.

Your children are out-of-sight.
But we see them in our minds eye:
the writers
and actors
and dancers
and crew members
and front office staff
We miss them, and all the wonders they could make
with body
and mind
and soul.

God of Beauty,
Your children are out-of-this-world.
But we have left them behind and led them to think they are “non-essential.”
Be near them.
Fill their minds with
Words
Songs
Dances
Schematics
Blueprints
Dreams…

Because we won’t be able to make sense of the world without them.

Because we won’t be able to make sense of ourselves without them.

Because we cannot be who you want us to be without them.

Amen.